Home At Last
All my certainty from before suddenly turned into a blade aimed at my own chest.
I fled the courtyard in humiliation, heading for the peach grove in the back—my favorite spot, where I'd hoped to find some small comfort.
Instead, I found the servants swinging shovels, hacking at the roots of the peach trees.
One worker, hesitating with a saw in hand, asked uncertainly, "Did Mr. Hartwell really order this? I remember—he had these trees shipped all the way from Sovelle City ten years ago, just to make Madam Elena happy."