The solemn expression on August's face deepened, the usual mockery entirely absent from his features.
"She asked for only one thing from me," August recalled. "She begged that I should not stand in her way when she chased her happiness. I spent so much of my life with her, Damian. She was the one person for whom I was willing to sacrifice everything. It shattered me when the news of her passing reached me. The fact that I couldn't even get the chance to look upon her face one last time... that is a knife that never leaves my chest."
Damian remained silent. Looking at his cousin, he realized with grim clarity that August's torment was no less severe than his own, perhaps it was even more brutal, seasoned by years of bitter exile from the woman he had adored.
"Do you hate Liliana for what she did to you?" Damian asked, finally breaking the stillness.
