Perhaps she had never been that happy in her entire life.
She searched her fading memories for what had brought her such happiness.
Gathering the last remnants of her strength, she pleaded,
"Varkas... give... the baby... to me."
Even to her own ears, her voice sounded as faint as the dying flame of a candle.
Afraid he hadn't heard, she painfully lifted fingers that felt as heavy as mountains and tugged weakly at his cold coat.
"I... want to... hold... my baby..."
Still holding her tightly, Varkas did not move.
At that moment, resentment welled up from the depths of her very bones.
If only she had been able to, she would have screamed.
You promised you'd give me anything I wanted.
Why aren't you keeping your promise?
Sobbing, she whispered,
"I... I'm begging you like this... please..."
At that moment, she sensed commotion spreading around them.
But every sound reached her as though thick walls surrounded her on every side.
Varkas abruptly turned his head.
She heard him shouting something.
But she could no longer understand the words.
The last of her strength left her, and her limbs fell limp.
The world before her grew darker and darker.
She could no longer tell whether her eyes were open or closed.
Would she never wake again?
If that was true...
Then she wanted to see him one last time.
Talia desperately tried to force her eyes open.
But all she could see was endless darkness.
Tears continued pouring from her eyes.
She felt as though she might drown in them.
She opened her mouth to speak.
But even that no longer obeyed her.
Only after swallowing back her shattered breaths did Talia realize that the word she had been unable to say...
...was his name.
Holding onto that unbearably sorrowful realization, she sank into the cold, endless darkness.
* * *
The rain that had been drizzling since dawn finally began to ease around noon.
Leaning against the battlements while wetting his lips with wine, Lucas spotted three or four women placing flowers before the small grave that had appeared only a few days earlier.
He let out a heavy sigh.
The child who had nearly reduced his own mother to a living corpse had entered the world only to be buried beneath the damp earth without ever properly drawing a first breath.
Only after the Grand Duchess's condition finally stabilized was a modest funeral held for the stillborn child.