A child could never truly keep secrets, no matter how hard they tried.
Ever since Silas moved in, my son, Caelum, who had once clung to me every day, now seemed completely captivated by something else.
Even though reason told me he might not be my biological son, after two lifetimes as his father, I still couldn’t help but care for him.
"Caelum, how are your grades this term? Let me take a look."
I swallowed the dryness in my throat, forcing out the words hoarsely.
"What’s there to look at? It’s so annoying. Nothing to see."
Caelum didn’t even glance up, his fingers absently picking at a shiny metal tin.
His tone was sharp, tinged with icy bitterness, each word sliced through me like shards of glass.
Unconsciously, my eyes drifted toward the courtyard.
My gaze met Silas’s just as he turned, his eyes locking with mine.
For a fleeting moment, his meaningful smile vanished, but its shadow still sent a cold shiver down my spine.
It wasn’t just Caelum; even the villagers seemed like strangers.
At first, when word spread about Silas taking over my household, some of my father’s old friends came by, offering their hollow words of comfort, telling me to “hold on” and that “life isn’t easy.”
But soon enough, it felt like no one cared whether I lived or died.
I couldn’t say what Amaris had been whispering to people or if it was just that Silas’s harmless, sincere face was too convincing.
But the villagers’ sympathy for me quickly shifted into thinly veiled disdain.
After all, living with someone as good as the dead was hardly a light burden.
Taking advantage of the pleasant weather, I thought about going for a walk, but before I even reached the old locust tree at the village’s edge, a flood of gossip washed over me, each word sharper than the last.
“If you ask me, that sickly Alaric is truly blessed by his ancestors.”
Liora’s cutting voice sliced through the air.
“He lost his father and now he spends his days bedridden. It’s a miracle he managed to marry someone like Amaris; any other woman would’ve left him by now.”
“And that Brother Silas, he’s something else! Helping with such sincerity, far better than that useless man.”
“Exactly! Without Silas, they would’ve starved long ago.”
“I don’t know how thick Alaric’s skin must be. If it were up to me, I’d say he should just leave. Let mother and son have some peace for once.”