CHAPTER 72: THE BROKEN TRUST

A glass coffin sat in the center of the room.

Tall. Elegant. Beautiful in a tragic, ancient way... carved with frozen feathers and blooming frost lilies. The glass glittered like crystallized starlight. And inside...

Inside lay a woman.

Her hair drifted around her like dark silk frozen mid-flow, her lashes resting gently on pale cheeks. Her hands were folded over her abdomen, fingers curled delicately. Her expression... Peaceful.

As if she’d simply fallen asleep beneath the snow.

My heart clenched, a sharp, painful twist.

"Oh my god..." I whispered, stepping closer without meaning to. "Lucian... is that...?"

"My mother," His voice came from beside me, low and rough.

A cold shiver crawled up my spine.

Not from the room but from her.

From the way she lay there, still like a mannequin. Like time itself had been forced to stop.

I stumbled back so hard my heel scraped the floor.

My breath hitched in my throat.

My heart slammed once, painfully against my ribs.

"Lucian—" I choked, eyes wide. "What... What is this? Is that—"

I pointed with a trembling hand, unable to even look away.

"Lucian, that is a dead body—"

"She’s not dead."

His answer came so immediately, so sharply, that it sliced right through my panic.

But I still scrambled another step away, fear prickling every inch of my skin.

I lifted both hands, palms facing him like I needed to ward off the insanity.

"You—are you insane?! Lucian, she—she’s in a coffin! A glass coffin! You don’t put living people inside glass coffins!"

He didn’t flinch and just looked at the coffin, with longing in his eyes.

And that terrified me even more.

"Seraphina," he said quietly, "she’s not dead. And that’s not glass. It is ice..."

"That’s even worse!" I squeaked. "Why did you do that?!"

My eyes darted between him and the woman suspended in crystal stillness, my heart banging against my ribs like it was trying to escape.

Lucian, infuriatingly calm despite my full-blown terror, said, "She was on the brink of death. And this was the only way I could think of at that moment..."

"And... is she the one you want to use my flame for?" I asked.

He answered too quickly, "Yes."

My stomach dropped.

The air around me thinned, like someone had punched a hole straight through my lungs.

Save someone on the brink of death?

Me?

What kind of insane logic and what kind of impossible expectation... but before I could spiral fully, he continued, his voice steady but quieter than before.

"At first," he said, "that was the idea. When I saw your flame awaken. When I realized it was the rare one... the one I’ve been searching for."

I stared at him, my pulse pounding painfully in my ears.

"But," he went on, eyes shifting away as if choosing each word carefully, "day by day... I found that I couldn’t keep thinking that way."

My breath caught.

He finally met my eyes again.

"I scrapped the idea," he said. "Because the more time I spent with you... the more I realized I didn’t care about the flame half as much as I cared about you."

My heart thudded hard enough to hurt.

"I don’t want to risk you," he continued, voice low, almost strained. "Not your body. Not your flame. Not even a fraction of you."

A pause, soft but devastating.

"So I stopped. I stopped considering it." His voice dropped, quieter than before as he stepped closer to me. "Because when I thought about it again... if your flame could save others without endangering the owner, then why would your family... your bloodline... cease to exist?"

He stepped closer, and before I could pull away, he took my hand, gently.

"I don’t want to risk that," he murmured. "I won’t. And I’ll find another way... even if it takes years."

But I didn’t know why... my body moved before my brain did.

I yanked my hand back instantly, like touching him burned me.

"You lie," I whispered, breathing unsteady. "Like you always do..."

He froze.

"I clearly heard what you were talking about with Sebastian the other day in your office..." I forced the words out, my voice tightening. "You said you wanted to use my flame. You didn’t even hesitate."

He didn’t move at first but then he reached out again, fingers brushing mine, trying to hold my hand back.

"Seraphina," he said quietly, "until where did you hear?"

I stiffened.

His eyes sharpened, as if he tried to read my mind.

"Did you hear all of it?" he pressed, stepping closer. "Or just... halfway?"

His hand hovered, waiting but hesitating.

And I decided not to take his hand.

I only stared at him, breath trembling, because I suddenly didn’t know what was worse... hearing the truth or realising I might have heard only enough to hurt myself.

"What if I heard only halfway?"

Lucian’s expression shifted immediately, like dread washing through his eyes.

"Then," he said quietly, "you didn’t hear the part that mattered."

He stepped closer, carefully, his hand hovering in the air like he wanted to reach for me but no longer knew if he should.

"Seraphina," he said, voice low, "what you heard... was only the beginning."

My pulse stuttered.

"You only heard the part where I said I wanted to use your flame."

I inhaled sharply... because yes... That was the exact line that destroyed me.

"But you didn’t stay long enough," he continued, eyes locked onto mine, "to hear what came after."

My fingers curled at my sides.

I hadn’t realised until that moment how terrified I was of the truth... or of being wrong.

Lucian took a slow breath, then spoke the words clearly, without hesitation, "I told Sebastian to check first."

His gaze didn’t waver.

"To see if using your flame would hurt you... even a little."

My heart clenched painfully.

"And if it did," he continued, voice dropping to a whisper, "I said I wouldn’t do it."

I held his gaze, trying to find the honesty in them until he continued.

"I said I would find another way," Lucian murmured, "because your safety comes first. Before my mother. Before the ritual. Before everything."

Silence.

A hard, trembling silence wrapped around us both.

I nodded once, slowly. Not in agreement, just trying to swallow the lump in my throat.

"So..." I whispered, my voice thin, "what exactly was the reason you brought me here? Hoping I’d... what? Do it willingly?"

His reaction was instant.

Lucian exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face. His brows drew together, tight and frustrated... not in anger toward me, but at the situation, at the wall between us he couldn’t break.

"Seraphina," he said, his tone sharper than before, "are you even listening?"

I flinched, not because of his tone but because it hit the exact wound I’d been trying to ignore.

Because yes.

I was listening but after everything that happened, even if every word he said now was the truth... the trust between us already felt cracked.

Broken in places I didn’t know how to fix.

"I will..." I said softly, lifting my gaze to meet his.

Lucian’s brows pulled tight. "Will what?"

"I will do it for you," I whispered. "For your mother. Just... give me time. I need to stabilise or complete the flame, or whatever it is called. Just... give me some time."

I turned to leave because if I stayed a second longer, I’d fall apart all over again.

"What are you even saying?!" His voice cracked through the cold room.

"I’m sorry," he said, softer now, but it was strained and desperate.

"Please... I know. I admit I was wrong. I approached you wrongly. I hid things. I—" He swallowed hard, stepping closer. "I betrayed your trust."

His hand found my arm, not forceful this time, just trembling slightly.

"Seraphina..." His voice almost broke. "Please..."

I didn’t turn back.

"Give me one more chance," he whispered behind me.

Before I could take another breath, his arms slipped around my waist from behind, slow and hesitant, like he was afraid I’d push him if he touched me too quickly.

His forehead hovered just near the back of my shoulder, his voice low and rough.

"Give me a chance to prove," he murmured, "that all I need... is you."