Chapter 279
"Her self-doubt kept growing. She’d pace around the manor muttering, ’Why isn’t the Duke happy with our son? What did I do wrong?’ And the moment you started walking and talking, she figured it out..."
"That I didn’t have enough talent," Kael muttered, eyes darkening.
Memories swam to the surface—memories of shattered vases, cold screams, and a woman’s trembling voice shrieking:
"You’re useless! Trash! A disgrace! If only you had power! If only you were gifted! Then maybe he’d have loved me more!"
Kael’s hands tightened slightly around Elfie, who stirred but remained asleep.
"When love is denied," Ramos said slowly, "it doesn’t disappear—it rots. It festers. That young blooming flower turned into poison. And when she looked at your face, all she saw was Ruth. That made her hate you even more."
Kael closed his eyes.
"We called priests, healers, doctors... everyone. But nothing worked. It got to a point where if she even saw Ruth—or you—she’d try to take her own life."
A cold sweat broke across Kael’s back. "That far...?"
Ramos nodded. "Yeah. So, the doctors finally recommended separation. And... well, your grandparents and the current Duke of Salvatore—your uncle—they hated Ruth. Always did. If he hadn’t been so much stronger than them, they would’ve taken her long ago. But once she cracked, they didn’t wait. They swooped in and took her."
Ramos looked away, his tone filled with remorse. "And from that day on... we haven’t seen her since."
A heavy silence fell between them. The room grew still, the weight of that truth settling like stone on Kael’s chest.