Chapter 361 The response

Chapter 361: Chapter 361 The response

Talia’s POV

Days passed, and I waited.

I did not know if I was waiting for a response, or if I was just waiting to move on.

Every time I heard footsteps in the hallway, I felt my heart skip. Every time someone knocked on the door, I felt a flicker of hope. But the days came and went, and there was nothing.

The silence stretched between the hours like a thread pulled too thin.

I had never been good at waiting, because it was not in my nature to sit still and hope for something I could not control.

I had always been a woman of action, of movement, and of doing something to change my circumstances. But this was different.

This was not something I could fight or force. It was something I had to let happen, and I did not know how to do that.

And I found myself staring out the window more and more, watching the horizon as if I might see a messenger approaching.

I had written the letter to let go of the anger, but now I realized that I had opened a door I did not know how to close. And I did not know if I wanted to close it.

Kaelen watched me, and I could see the concern in his gray eyes. He did not push me, and he did not ask me to stop waiting.

He knew that I needed to work through this on my own, but he also knew that I needed to know he was there. And he was.

Every morning, he was beside me, and every night, he held me. He did not try to fix me, and he did not try to fill the silence with words. He just stayed, and that was more than enough.

He just stayed close, as a quiet presence at my side.

"Talia, you cannot keep waiting like this," Kaelen said one evening, his voice soft. "It is eating at you."

I looked at him, and I tried to smile. "I know, Kaelen.” I replied. “But I cannot help it. I just need to know."

He walked to me, and I felt his arms around me. "Whatever happens, I am here. Whether he writes back or not, I am here."

I pressed my face into his chest, and I let myself breathe. "I know, Kaelen. I know."

I was sitting at my desk when the knock finally came.

My heart stopped as I looked at the door, and I felt my hands trembling.

I had been waiting for this moment, but now that it was here, I was not sure if I was ready. The fear and the hope were tangled together, and I could not tell which one was stronger.

Kaelen walked to the door, and he opened it.

A messenger stood there with a guard closely behind him, and with his face tired from the journey.

I could see the miles in his eyes, the long road he had traveled to bring me this letter. His shoulders were slumped, and his hands were rough, maybe from gripping the horse reins.

He must have ridden hard to get here, and I felt a surge of gratitude for him, even though I did not know what the letter that he was holding in his hand would say.

Dust clung to his clothes, and his eyes were heavy with exhaustion. He held out the letter.

"For Luna Talia," he said. "From Cresswood."

I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I walked to the messenger, and I took the letter from his hand.

I looked at the letter, and I recognized the seal.

The wax was a deep red, and it had been pressed firmly into place. I could see the faint impression of the Cresswood crest, the symbol that had once meant family to me.

Now it felt like a relic, and a reminder of something I had lost long ago. I traced the edges of the seal with my finger, and I felt the weight of the past pressing down on me.

It was my father’s seal.

"Thank you," I said, and my voice was barely a whisper. "Please rest. You have traveled far."

The messenger nodded, and he walked away, with the guard following close behind.

I looked at the letter, and I felt my hands shaking. It was heavier than I expected, and I could feel the weight of it in my palms. I had written to him, and he had answered.

But I did not know if I was ready for what he had to say.

Kaelen walked to me, and I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Talia, you do not have to read it if you are not ready."

I shook my head. "I need to read it, Kaelen. I have to know."

I broke the seal, and I unfolded the paper. But there was only one sentence.

"I Am Sorry.”

I stared at the words, and I felt the tears burning in my eyes.

"I am sorry." The words were so simple, and so small. They should not have carried so much weight, but they did.

They carried the weight of every year I had spent wondering if he cared, and every night I had cried myself to sleep in that storage room, wishing he would come and save me.

I read it again, and again, and again.

I read it three times, and each time, the words felt heavier.

All those years of silence, and all those years of pain, and this was all he had to say?

I held the letter in my hands, and I felt the weight of those two words pressing down on me.

"I am sorry."

I had waited so long for something from him. I had hoped for answers, for explanations, and for anything that would make sense of the years of pain.

I had hoped for a reason, for a confession, or for something that would make me feel like the little girl he had abandoned had not been forgotten. And all I got was three words.

Kaelen looked at me, and I saw the concern in his eyes. "Talia? What does it say?"

I looked at him, and I felt the tears streaming down my face. "He said he is sorry. That is all. Just two words."

Kaelen was quiet for a moment. "What are you going to do?"

I looked at the letter, and I felt the anger and the grief and the love all mixing together.

I wanted to be angry at him. I wanted to hate him for the years of silence, for the pain he had caused, and for the girl he had abandoned, but I could not.

I could only feel the grief, the loss, and the aching emptiness of a child who had never been loved the way she should have been.

I did not know if I could forgive him.

But I knew I could not hold onto this letter, and I could not hold onto the pain. It had been with me for too long, and it was time to let it go.

I stood up, and I walked to the fire. The flames danced and flickered, casting warm shadows across the room.

I held the letter over the flames, and I felt the heat on my face.

"Talia," Kaelen called, and I heard the worry in his voice.

I did not look at him. I just kept my eyes on the letter, and on the words that had been so small and yet so heavy.

"Some apologies come too late," I said, and my voice was steady.

I let the letter fall into the fire. I watched the flames catch the paper, and I watched the words burn. The edges curled, and the ink disappeared, and the paper turned to ash.

As I watched the flames consume the letter, I felt something inside me release.

The anger had been a chain, and the letter had been the lock. And now it was gone. The lock was broken, and the chain was falling away, and I was finally free to move forward.

It was all gone in seconds.

I watched the ashes float up into the sky, and I felt the weight lifting from my chest. The anger was still there, but it was softer now, and smaller, like a wound that had finally begun to heal.

Kaelen walked to me, and I felt his arms around me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, and I felt the tears streaming down my face. "I am, Kaelen. I am okay."

I did not forgive my father, and I did not know if I ever will, but I let go of the anger.

And that was enough for now.