The Crown's Entrapment

That night, instead of staying for another day in Cordon Castle, Gilas and Clara decided to go home and sleep in the Keen Manor. As much as they still had a lot of work to do in the capital, they had to at least get their business settled back home in one way or another. He also wanted to have dinner and check in on his mother, and thankfully, his mate also wanted to do so as well. On top of that, he also wanted to discuss the matter regarding Pinra with his mother.

As such, as soon as they were finished with dinner, Gilas went ahead and opened up the topic.

"Mother, I want to talk about Pinra."

Both Clara and his mother turned to look at him. Thankfully, the table had already been cleared, allowing him to rest his elbows on the table itself.

"Pinra?" Shila asked with a curious tone. "What is this about, my son?"

To his side, Gilas couldn't help but give Clara a sideways glance, hoping she would give him a bit of moral support before continuing with his discussion. To his relief, his mate gave him a soft smile, her eyes telling him that she was going to back him up with anything that might need her input.

'Thank you, Clara,' he inwardly thought as he nodded at her support.

From there, he turned his attention back to his mother and began, "We just recently visited her in her cell. She was... far from well."

"Oh dear..." Shila remarked with a hint of worry in her tone.

"She's not completely mentally whole anymore. At least, from what most of us can gather," he continued. "She keeps calling for me, and the reason why that is was that apparently, I'm the only person she can even remember."

"My, that's... that's a horrible fate..." his mother sighed.

"The physician said that she should be moved to a more comfortable location for possible rehabilitation," Gilas relayed. "We still don't know if she'll fully make a recovery, but there's a chance that she'll get better if we give her the care that she needs."

"Some kind of house arrest then?" Shila asked. "We can make room for her here if needed."

"Nothing like that, Mother. At least, not yet," Gilas quickly answered. "We still don't know what our next step will be for her. We just don't want her to die or completely go insane..."

It was rather surprising even to Gilas. The more time he spent thinking about Pinra, the more he felt pity for what was once her ruthless and sadistic cousin. Even hearing the reports told them of a woman that has lost everything to her. A woman that lost not only her father but even her own sense of self with only him as her anchor to what remained of her memories.

"Of course, we still don't know if this is all true," Clara quickly added, though her tone betrayed the doubt she had in her own words. "For all we know, she might just be faking it."

Gilas had to agree with a nod. As much as it was almost obvious, they still couldn't shake the possibility that this was all a trap. But with every day that passed with Pinra's condition further worsening, it was starting to look more and more like there was no nefarious plan involved here. Pinra was simply a woman suffering, and they were the ones causing it.

"I see," Shila hummed in deliberation. "Is there anything I can do to help? Perhaps visit her or care for her if possible?"

"...You feel bad for her?" Clara couldn't help but ask, and Gilas couldn't help but wonder the same question. "Even after everything she had done to us? To you?"

"She's still family, my dear," Shila explained herself to his mate. "No matter what happens, she will be related to us, and we're all she has left."

Gilas blinked at his mother's words. True enough, Pinra was effectively alone with both of her parents dead. She had no other relatives except for themselves, and if it weren't them, who else would even bother with her?

"I... I can see that..." Clara hesitantly mumbled. "I can understand such a scenario myself, but even if she's like this, we can't just forget everything she has ever done."

"And we won't," Shila reassured her. "There is forgiveness and there is responsibility. We won't have to forget or even forgive Pinra's actions, but she's still our responsibility as her immediate family."

Clara simply nodded, her thoughts clearly in a daze as she turned her head down.

A few seconds of silence passed before Gilas decided that there was nothing else left to say in the matter. "It's settled then," he voiced out, seeing that their conversation had died down. "If there's nothing else, we should turn to bed."

***

With their conversation having petered out, Clara found herself making her way back to her shared chamber with Gilas. As was usual, they did their usual business before then laying down on their bed and going to sleep. However, there was a notable thing missing from this scenario that she honestly didn't think would miss...

She no longer shivered in her sleep, meaning that Gilas no longer needed to give her a warm hug while they slept.

[And here I thought you were just being cold,] Sheba chuckled.

Clara frowned as she turned in her sleep, her mind half-awake as she pouted. The sheets were already enough for her to no longer feel the cold, but even that felt like ice when compared to Gilas's warm embrace. But as much as she liked for it to happen, she was just too shy to try and ask him to wrap his arms around her like he usually did.

[Or maybe just go ahead with it anyway,] her wolf teasingly suggested. [You know he won't say no.]

[How about no...] she sleepily replied. [It would be rude to try and wake him up now just for a selfish request.]

Shaking her head, Clara forced herself to sleep. There would be a time for her to receive Gilas's warm hugs sooner or later. For now, she'll just have to sleep it off.