You were ready to be a mother, you really were. But to hold your dying baby in your arms, you would never bear a child again. Everyone who loved you told you it wasn’t your fault, but you they wouldn’t even begin to understand the guilt you felt when you held the premature life form in your arms and watched it lose breath, you were so useless.

You worked in the Fortress of Meropide, close to Sigewinne. She filled the void in your heart, you felt like you could really provide for someone like you would’ve if your child had survived. And you knew she loved you, having no parents of her own, you filled the maternal role in her life, despite knowing she didn’t need it.

Was it wrong to feel deserving of a child who wasn’t yours? Probably..

Definitely.

But you couldn’t escape how your heart longed to nourish, you were supposed to be a mother, this should be your apology for having what should’ve been yours taken away from you. And that gift was Sigewinne.

“Sigewinne, let’s go home.”

You called to her. She didn’t officially live with you, nor were you legally her guardian, but she often stayed with you. You had a room in your house for her and everything.

She eagerly went to your side and held your hand.