Chapter 5

I felt like I'd been hit by lightning. Nina in my arms started coughing again, her little face turning crimson. I clenched my jaw.

"Can we use the herbal from my dowry instead? It's a desperate move, but maybe it'll work, right?" I asked.

That night, I didn't leave Nina's side for even a moment. Her tiny body was blazing with fever, so hot it felt like I was hugging a lump of burning coal. Hearing her fast, shallow breaths made my heart clench with worry.

By the time dawn was breaking, the fever finally eased a bit. Only then did I let out a shaky breath, relief flooding through me.

But my relief was short-lived. Three nights later, just past midnight, Nina was seized by another sudden, raging fever— fiercer than any she'd had before.

I knew, deep down, this time I might really be powerless to help her.

Oddly enough, Caine hadn't set foot in my room for ten days straight.

I had no clue what he'd been doing, or where I was even supposed to look for him.

"Amara! Go fetch the house physician!" I cried out, desperation making my voice shake.

My voice trembled as I touched Nina's scorching forehead, fear tightening in my chest.

Amara hurried out, and I quickly wrung a cold cloth, pressing it to Nina's head.

Her tiny hand gripped tight to my finger, her eyelids fluttering half-shut, breathing coming faster and faster.

"I'm right here, Nina, don't be afraid..." I soothed her in a low voice, barely holding it together myself.

But exhaustion had my own forehead burning, and the world kept swimming in and out of darkness before my eyes.

Two hours crawled by, and still no sign of Amara. Nina was mumbling in her delirium, her little face flushed a fiery red from the fever.

Nina whimpered weakly, "Daddy... I want Daddy..." Her voice was barely more than a broken whisper.

Hearing her like that, it felt like a knife was twisting in my chest.

"Somebody—please, I need help!" I cried out, my voice breaking from sheer desperation.

I called out, throat so raw it barely sounded like me.

Finally, I heard hurried footsteps— but it was only Jovan Kingsley, the house steward, rushing in.

"My lady, is Nina feeling any better? The thing is..." Jovan hesitated, his gaze avoiding mine.

He couldn't bring himself to look at me, eyes flickering nervously.

A surge of anxiety hit me, tightening my chest.

"Just tell me, Jovan. I can handle it," I insisted, forcing my voice to stay steady.

Jovan sighed, his eyes darting away. "Mr. Valen... He's with Miss Sinclair right now."

"Isn't Loretta supposed to be in Eldoria Province? So where exactly is this place you're talking about?" My voice shot up, unable to control my frustration.

The sudden tension in my voice made Nina squirm in my arms, her unease mirroring my own.

He replied, "Miss Sinclair returned after leaving her husband. Word is, she was coughing up blood the entire way back.

"So Mr. Valen brought her to Willow Court, and right now, all the royal and household physicians have been sent over there."

My vision blurred and I nearly lost hold of Nina. Barely keeping it together, I begged, "Jovan, please—go ask him for me! Make him give us back the Celestine Lotus, Nina's barely hanging on.

"If we wait any longer, she might not survive. I'm running a fever myself, I can't even walk straight..."

Jovan gave me a look full of pity before rushing out. I gazed down at Nina—her breaths were barely there now, and her lips were tinged with a scary purple-blue.

"Hold on, baby... Daddy's coming, I promise..." I whispered, my tears landing on her tiny face.

An hour later, Jovan came back alone. The look on his face made my heart drop.

"Why didn't you bring a physician? Did you even tell him Nina's barely hanging on?" My voice was shaking so badly I could hardly speak.

My voice was shaking so badly I could hardly speak.

Jovan's eyes were brimming with tears. "My lady, I told him exactly what you said. But the lord... he said..."

"What did he say?" I stared at Jovan, my gaze boring into him.

"He said… stop trying these low schemes to get him back here. Missing a day of treatment won't kill Nina." Jovan's voice was nearly a whisper.

Jovan's voice dropped even lower. "He also said you'd better watch your step, or... you might not have a place in this house anymore."

I felt like I'd fallen into a freezing pit, and suddenly, Nina started shaking uncontrollably in my arms.

"Nina! Nina!" I cried out, my panic spiking.

I hugged her tighter, my heart pounding like crazy, but her tiny body was going rigid right against me.

"Mommy... I'm so cold..." Nina murmured, her tiny voice barely clinging to life.

Those words were the last she ever spoke. Her small hand slipped from mine, and her eyes fluttered shut—never to open again.

"No! Nina, please! Please, baby, no!" I screamed, my voice ragged and raw.

I kept shaking her tiny body, desperate, calling her name again and again—but she never moved.

Outside, the rain poured down even harder, thunder rumbling through the sky, as if god was crying for this innocent little soul.

I held my daughter's body as it grew colder and colder, my tears long since dried up.

"Caine..." I whispered his name, my voice raw and broken.

In that moment, all the love I'd ever held for him was carved away—leaving only a hatred etched so deep it felt branded into my bones.

With trembling hands, I reached into the deepest corner of my old jewelry box and pulled out a whistle, long hidden and layered with the dust of forgotten years.

The piercing wail of the flute cut straight through the rainy night. After a while, a figure in black appeared before me out of nowhere—silent and ghostly.

"Are you Lauren?" the figure asked, voice low and mysterious.

"I am," I whispered back.

"You just blew the Whistle of Oathbound Grace from the Shadow Court," the figure said smoothly. "Tell me—what help do you need?"

I looked down at Nina's pale face, my voice disturbingly steady—as if all my grief had frozen into icy calm.