Chapter 44 Caelum

• “Tell me, my son, what truly brings you here?” my mother asks in the softest voice. Without my wife around, my mother is far more serene. Her voice, though gentle, carries an undercurrent of authority, as if even in trivial questions, there’s an expectation of control. She leans back slightly in the garden chair, her green eyes fixed on me with a calmness that is almost unsettling. Without Seraphina’s presence, my mother’s usual coldness dissolves, and the maternal figure I once knew briefly resurfaces, albeit in a measured and calculated way.
• The garden where we sit is vast and lush, a true sanctuary shielded from the pressures of the kingdom. Vibrant flowers, tall and brimming with life, stretch around us like a vibrant mantle of colors, the soft fragrance of lilies and jasmine petals floating in the air.
• My mother’s sudden change in behavior toward my wife began in the first year of our marriage. Her expectations of securing an heir for the kingdom were high. After all, she had chosen Seraphina for me herself, an enchatress like her. My mother knew that enchatresses and lycans could conceive children, and she found it absurd that Seraphina hadn’t yet become pregnant.