CHAPTER 342 SPOILS OF WAR

Marcus was seated in the dining room for breakfast; the smell of fresh bread and sizzling bacon wafted through the air. His eyes were fixed on the mug of coffee in front of him; the familiar comfort of breakfast with his family felt distant today. His mother hummed softly as she placed bowls and bowls of food on the table while Maela sat across from him, flipping through a magazine for ball dresses. She glanced up occasionally at him but said nothing as though sensing his need for space. Marcus’s mind, however, wasn’t in the room; it was still lingering by the seaside, replaying the words Lunaria had whispered the night before. ‘Your father.’ He remembered his father and missed him every day. The few memories he had were of training by the shores and a strong, kind man with a laugh that could fill a room. Marcus barely knew the full details of his father’s death; all that was known was that he died in battle, but now that there was more to it, the loss of his father had somehow