Chapter 42

• Stefano's POV
• We laid the boy to rest, offering a brief prayer to ensure his soul could find peace before the Fates. I hoped the Moon Goddess would show him mercy, but I couldn't shake the feeling that innocence had long since slipped through his fingers. I had seen children far younger than him committing acts of cruelty that would haunt an adult's nightmares.
• It was a tragic truth: many of those young souls were never aware of the true weight of their actions. That burden rested on the shoulders of those who raised them, but those guardians seldom cared.