Chapter 142. Altering Fates

Athena

The pain didn’t subside as quickly as Sebastian had assured me.

It persisted, dragging on for hours. What made it worse was the unpredictable fluctuations in my body temperature, swinging from scorching heat to bone-chilling cold. Words failed to capture the sheer horribleness of it all; it was an indescribable torment. It felt as if my energy was being drained from the very core of my being, as if I had already lost copious amounts of blood.

My teeth chattered uncontrollably, and my body convulsed with continuous waves of shivers, each second worse than the last.

This felt even more unbearable.

Sebastian had dressed me in warm clothes and tucked me under the duvet, doing his utmost to keep me warm. I couldn’t fathom how exhausting it must have been for him to constantly offer support when everything seemed so out of control. The weight of responsibility lay heavily on his shoulders, and despite my efforts to conceal my pain, I knew I had