Chapter 173\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean\u2026 that wasn\u2019t a dream version of him?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It was him, responding to your distress in the dream world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know whether to feel comforted or more afraid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said my mother was a seer,\u201d I said instead. \u201cDid she\u2026 did she ever doubt her gift?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day,\u201d the priestess said softly. \u201cSight is a blessing and a burden. It shows you what others cannot see, but it also strips away comfort. Selene feared the things she saw until she learned that fear clouds truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cClouds truth?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She nodded. \u201cVisions are like water, child. The more you thrash, the murkier they become. Only stillness brings clarity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let that sink in. The dreams, the goddess\u2019s voice, the wolf-they\u2019d all left me shaken, desperate for control. Maybe that was the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how to stop being afraid,\u201d I admitted quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The priestess smiled. \u201cYou start by trusting that fear does not come from the goddess. It comes from what would keep you from her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her words were gentle, but they landed with the weight of a command.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the great statue ahead of us-the serene face of the goddess carved from pale stone. For the first time, I noticed the faint lines of a crescent moon etched across her brow, the same mark that sometimes appeared in my dreams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother used to come here often,\u201d the priestess said softly. \u201cWhen her visions grew dark, she would sit here for hours, breathing until the noise in her mind quieted. She believed the goddess never truly spoke in riddles- only in reflections. What we fear most is often what we need to understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her gaze turned to me again. \u201cWhat is it you fear most, Elain?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The name, full and formal, hit something deep inside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid\u2026\u201d My voice broke, and I had to start again. \u201cI\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll never be enough. As a mother. As a leader. As\u2026 me. I keep losing the people I love, losing myself. And I don\u2019t know how to stop it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The priestess\u2019s expression softened. \u201cThen the goddess has given you your answer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo love anyway,\u201d she said simply. \u201cTo stand in the face of loss and choose love again. That is the message of the divine. That is balance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, I couldn\u2019t speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words were too simple, too profound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence that followed wasn\u2019t empty-it was full, humming faintly, as if the temple itself had exhaled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, the priestess rose with slow grace and extended her hand. \u201cCome. I want to show you something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 173\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I followed her through a small archway into a back chamber. The walls here were older, rougher, the stone etched with symbols I didn\u2019t recognize. In the center stood a pedestal with a small bowl of water, still and clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis,\u201d she said, \u201cis the scrying basin your mother used. She saw many things here-births, deaths, wars, and peace. But the truest visions were never about the world. They were about herself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She gestured to the bowl. \u201cLook.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, then stepped closer. The water reflected my face back at me-tired, pale, eyes ringed with sleeplessness. Then, as I watched, the reflection rippled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The faintest shimmer of silver light moved through it, and for just a heartbeat, I thought I saw my mother\u2019s smile in the surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When it cleared, only my reflection remained. But something in me felt lighter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The priestess\u2019s hand rested gently on my shoulder. \u201cThe goddess does not ask for perfection, child. Only faith. Trust what she shows you, even when it frightens you. The meaning will come when you stop fighting the message.\u00a0<\/p>\n
>>\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to her. \u201cAnd if I can\u2019t?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she will keep sending the dream,\u201d she said, eyes kind but firm. \u201cUntil you do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time I left the temple, the sun was dipping in the sky. The path back down the hill felt different-brighter somehow, the air cleaner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I paused once to look back at the silver domes gleaming against the blue sky. The priestess\u2019s words echoed softly in my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only stillness brings clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To love anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe that was what the goddess had been trying to show me all along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have to understand everything yet. I just had to stop running from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The breeze carried the faint sound of chimes from the temple courtyard, and I smiled to myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was still afraid, but somehow I felt less alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 173 Chapter 173\u00a0 \u201cYou mean\u2026 that wasn\u2019t a dream version of him?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unremembered-mate-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}