Chapter 45 Caelum

• The atmosphere around us is charged with a silent tension as the car finally pulls into the palace garage. I turn my face and stare at Seraphina, searching for any sign that these last few days in the countryside made any difference. But what I see is the same tired expression, the same weak smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, as if she’s wearing a mask merely out of obligation.
• “I thought a few days away, in the countryside with my mother, could help us improve things,” I say, trying to sound optimistic, even though I don't feel that hope within me. “Next time, we’ll go somewhere just the two of us.”
• Seraphina, however, doesn’t react as I expected. Her smile remains expressionless, almost as if it were carved from stone. The despondency that hangs over her is palpable, almost suffocating in the confined space of the car. If it weren’t for Alexander and his ridiculous request for support, maybe Seraphina and I could have fixed what was wrong between us. The sex, on the nights we spent in the countryside, was satisfactory—more than that, it was intense. But what was meant to be an escape from the tensions in our marriage turned into another burden of obligations. My mother’s words echo in my mind like a threatening pendulum, swinging over my head, about to fall.