Chapter 71. Who Did This to You?

Xerina’s POV

As soon as I had her settled on the couch, I hurried to pour her a glass of water from the nearby table. She took it with trembling hands, her fingers barely steady enough to hold the glass. The moment it touched her lips, she gulped the water down greedily as if she hadn’t had a drink in days. I watched her, a knot tightening in my chest, wondering how she had ended up in the gardens in such a state.

Her clothes were torn from some places, the fabric frayed and stained with mud.

Her dress, which had likely been a soft pastel color at one point, was now caked with dirt, the hem ripped and hanging unevenly around her legs. Her feet were bare, covered in scratches and smudged with earth, and her hair, a tangled mess, fell in unkempt strands around her face.

She looked like she had been through hell, her pale skin smudged with dirt, her cheeks hollowed with exhaustion.

Her eyes, though red-rimmed and swollen from crying, were still shar