[Cassius's Pov]
CLUNK!!
It's been ages since I last had wine, but for some reason, it tastes more bitter than I remember.
I used to drink it like water—goblets of it after council meetings, barrels after battles. It dulled the edge and kept the monsters in my head quiet. But I began drinking less when Lavinia started growing up.
But now?
Now she's not here, and I feel like I'm losing my mind.
Why? Why do I feel this… emptiness? She's just a child. A tiny, golden-haired demon with sticky fingers and an unholy love for glitter. She steals my robes to make forts. She paints my war maps with little suns and flowers.
But still.
The palace is too quiet without her.
Every hall echoes like a graveyard. Every corner I turn, I expect to see her barreling into me, tripping over her own feet, and declaring some absurd nonsense like, "Papa! I am a very serious wizard now; please give me your sword."
Damn it. I can't even sleep tonight.
Again.
