Chapter 3: The Child Who Never Drew Breath

The clan’s alchemist saw the state I was in and knew he had to get me to a true place of healing.

He sent a frantic message to Justin through their blood bond.

"Lord Justin, this is an emergency! Please, come to the Sanctuary! Gracie's condition is critical, she's suffering from a severe psychic backlash!"

Justin's voice was full of irritation. "Gracie! You're more resourceful than I thought. You actually escaped and found someone to help you."

"I don't care what trick you're pulling. I'm not coming. I know your body better than you do, Gracie. You're not in any real danger."

"I told you, it's my child, too! Your turn is after Isolde. What's the rush?!"

The alchemist looked at me with deep sympathy, then turned to an apprentice. "Get her to the outer sanctuary. We have to try."

I never imagined they would take me to the same sanctuary as Isolde.

The alchemist pleaded with the guards there, but Justin's orders had been given.

Not a single drop of healing spring water was to be spared for me.

Through the wall, I heard Justin's cold, firm words. "I don't care who it's for. I won't risk anything with Isolde. I need this to be perfect."

I collapsed onto the floor in despair.

Just then, my eyes met a man’s at the doorway.

It was Justin's second-in-command.

His eyes widened in shock when he saw me, but he seemed unsure.

He rushed to Justin's side.

"My lord, there's a woman outside, covered in blood. She… she looks like Lady Gracie."

Justin frowned, rubbing his fingers together.

"Impossible," he snapped. "She can barely walk. She couldn't have made it this far."

The second-in-command tried again, his voice low. "Perhaps you should go see, my lord. If it is her, she and the child are in extreme danger."

Justin glared at him.

"I said it's impossible! If it were her, she wouldn't be so quiet. She would have stormed in by now. Besides, a proud she-wolf like Gracie would rather die than be seen like that. Weak. Covered in blood."

The alchemist was still arguing, trying to secure even a single potion.

Justin threatened him with his position, and he fell silent.

The alchemist returned to my side, his face an apology.

There was nothing more he could do.

I tried to tell them not to worry, but my vision was starting to fade.

The psychic trauma and blood loss were pulling me under.

I could hear the healers whispering, their voices growing distant.

"The magical trauma... it's too severe... she can't heal herself..."

"The second heartbeat is fading..."

"Quick, get the Heartsease Draught! Now!"

I tried to ask, to scream, but no sound would leave my throat.

I could only watch the blurred shapes of people rushing around me, helpless.

My hand drifted to my belly.

The frantic kicking was gone.

The life I’d sheltered for months… was silent.

An empty, cold stillness had taken its place.

My baby was gone.

Tears blurred what little vision I had left.

I'm sorry, my heart cried out. My baby, Mama's so sorry. I couldn't protect you.

A single tear slid from the corner of my eye.

Then, the darkness swallowed me whole.

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Justin's POV

Justin paced outside the ritual sanctuary.

The moment the doors opened, his first thought was of Isolde.

He rushed to her bedside and gazed at the infant, conceived by a blood curse, now sleeping in a halo of magical light.

His eyes filled with hope for the future.

"He looks like a true noble," he whispered. "So pure."

For a fleeting moment, he wondered about Gracie's child. A girl, perhaps. With her mother's wild, untamed beauty.

After setting a protective ward over Isolde's child, Justin turned to leave.

A day had passed.

It was time to bring Gracie to the sanctuary.

Just then, his second-in-command appeared.

Justin tossed him the key to the secret chamber.

"Go back to the castle. Get Gracie from the secret chamber and bring her here."

His second-in-command wouldn't meet his gaze.

He stood frozen. A deep terror rolled off him in waves, something Justin couldn't understand.

Just as Justin's patience wore out, the man finally spoke, his voice shaking.

"My lord… Lady Gracie and the child… their life signs… they're gone."