The workshop was quiet, save for the rhythmic scrape of a chisel against marble. Moonlight streamed through the open archways, casting long shadows across the stone floor. Remus stood before his greatest creation yet—a statue of a woman unlike any other. Every detail, every curve, every delicate feature had been carved with devotion, his hands shaping her as though she had always existed, waiting for him to bring her forth from the stone.

He ran a calloused hand over the statue’s cheek, his golden eyes filled with longing. She was perfect, but cold. Beautiful, but lifeless. No matter how much of his heart he had poured into her, she would never look back at him, never whisper his name, never love him in return.

Sighing, Remus turned away, wiping marble dust from his fingers before kneeling at the small altar he had built beside his workshop. The scent of burning incense curled in the night air as he bowed his head.

“Aphrodite,” he murmured, his voice almost breaking. “Goddess of love, I beg you… Grant me this one kindness. I have spent my life in solitude, my heart aching for something—someone—I can never have. But if love is a gift meant for all, then please, breathe life into her. Let her be real. Let her see me. Let her… love me.”

The night was silent, the flickering candlelight steady. Nothing changed.

With a heavy heart, Remus closed his eyes, whispering one last prayer before retreating to his bed, unaware of the soft glow beginning to pulse within the marble. The first stirrings of warmth. The first breath of life.