The castle's corridors were a maze of stone and marble, but I found Lucy's room without hesitation, as if I had a map of it at the back of my head.
I paused at the door, my hand resting on the handle, my heart pounding with the weight of the decision I was about to make.
Fumiko's words echoed in my mind, urging me to tell Lucy the truth, but I pushed them aside. She didn't need to know. Not yet.
I knocked twice, the sound muffled but sharp in the silence. "Lucy?" I called softly.
"Come in," her voice said from within, faint but steady.
I pushed the door open, and the room unfolded before me. It was warm, and the windows had been completely covered by long thick drapes
A fire crackled in the fireplace, casting flickering shadows across the stone walls. Lucy lay in a narrow bed, her dark hair splayed across the pillow.
