"Nathan."

    When Nathalie looked up again, Nathan was gone-vanishedpletely.

    She broke down, screaming his name, “Nathan!”

    No one answered. The silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating.

    Frantic, she ran upstairs. But in just those few moments, the whole house had changed. Family members, dressed in mourning clothes, filled the halls. Someone must have called the priest, because he was already there, chanting solemn prayers and setting up for the ritual.

    Nathalie watched in horror as he burned sheet after sheet of white paper, each one scribbled with Nathan and Nellie''s birth dates. The priest muttered strange incantations Nathalie couldn''t understand, but the meaning was clear: once the ritual was done, Nathan''s fate would be sealed-changed forever.

    She remembered Morris from that other world-how he''d lost his family, lost his title, lost the use of his legs, left utterly alone. That was all the proof she needed. This priest really could change destinies, and Nathalie refused to let Nathan end up lonely and broken.

    She forced herself to breathe, to focus. She couldn''t let the ritual finish.

    At first, she tried everything-leaping, running, desperately trying to blow out the candles like some wild thing, hoping it would stop everything. But nothing worked. She ended up on her knees, exhausted, sobbing andughing at her own uselessness. She cried for Nathan, gone too soon, and for herself, too weak to do anything about it.

    But Nathalie had never been one to give up. After a few moments, she wiped her tears, pushed herself off the floor, and tried again. She lunged for the burning papers in the firece, wing at them, even as her hands burned and her efforts came to nothing.

    By the time the priest finished, it was almost dawn. He turned to Gavin and said, "You should have the young master''s body cremated as soon as possible. I''ve chosen a peaceful resting ce for him on Chapel Hill."

    "Alright," Gavin replied, voice choked with tears. "He left clear instructions in his will. I''ll do exactly as he wished."

    Nathalie followed the Rond family to the crematorium. She watched as they slid Nathan''s body into the furnace, and in that moment, her whole world seemed to copse. She''d survived so much pain before, but nothing had ever hurt like this. This was the kind of grief that made her wish she could just disappear.

    When the staff brought out the urn, Nathalie nearly fainted.

    Still, she forced herself to stand, determined to stay with Nathan until the very end.

    After saying goodbye, Nathalie felt

    hollow. There was nothing left in this world for her-whether Cameron

    or hated her just didn''t matter

    more.

    She pulled out the bronze mirror Almos had given her and looked at her reflection.

    What she saw made her heart stop.

    When did her face change?

    She remembered Almos''s warning:

    If you

    er see a different face i

    it means something''se

    terribly wrong.

    She needed to get back to her own world-fast.

    Nathalie found the old gates and slipped through, leaving that world behind.

    When she opened her eyes again, she was back at Stewart Estate, in her own bedroom.

    Almos stood nearby, his face drawn with worry, brows knit tight.

    Nathalie sat up. "Why do you look like that? I''m back-nothing''s changed."

    But Almos shook his head. "No,

    Nathalie. You left too many tear et

    behind in that world. You shifted the

    bnce. Something big might being."

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!