Chapter 38

Seris’s POV

“You’d make a wonderful father,” I told Kaien, smiling as he rolled on the grass with little Nessa. Their laughter, pure and unguarded, floated through the warm afternoon air, and I found myself relaxing at the sight. In my hands, I toyed with the petals of the red roses he’d given me earlier—roses that weren’t the silvery blossoms I usually preferred, the kind Ronan once surprised me with. Still, I cherished these too, the deep crimson of each petal a vivid reminder of Kaien’s thoughtfulness.

‘Stop thinking about him,’ I admonished myself silently. ‘If you truly want to move on, you must purge every thought of Ronan.’ With a sigh, I lay back on the soft grass, squinting upward as the sun shone fiercely, its rays stretching across the wide meadow and painting long shadows beneath our resting place.

“Are you still not going to talk to him?” Eirwen’s voice cut into my reverie, and I groaned, rolling onto one elbow. She sat nearby, watching me as th