Chapter 158

CHAPTER 2... VALENTINA The morning came quietly—too quietly even. No birds sang outside the window. No laughter echoed through the palace halls. The kingdom of Valkyrie seemed to hold its breath beneath the twin moons’ afterglow, their light lingering unnaturally long across the marble floors. Andres hadn’t moved from the bedside all night. His hand still clasped Luciano’s small one, thumb brushing over the boy’s knuckles in a motion that said everything he couldn’t. He hadn’t slept. Neither had I… I stood by the window, watching the silver mist curl over the gardens below—the same garden where Luciano used to chase butterflies, where he had lifted that silver lily just yesterday with all the innocence of a child who didn’t yet understand how dangerous his gifts could be. He was laying in his bed, pale, weak and those beautiful lashes trembling against his cheeks. “It’s been hours,” A low, frustrated and somewhat panicked growl left Andres’s chest. “He should’ve woken by now.” He said