83 The Devil of tragedy and of love

"When Nora and Aurelius were fourteen, their parents sold them into human trafficking. The only reason they did this was to provide themselves with enough money to survive."

As Valerian utters those words, everything around me seems to grind to a chilling halt. The lamps seem to dim inexplicably around me, their fires burning to a low smoulder, casting long shadows across the room and stretching out from beneath me. Even the dilopuffs who busy themselves at the edges of my peripheral cease to move, their wide glowing eyes stopping to stare at the two of us, but I hardly notice them.

All I can hear now is the pounding of my own heart against my chest, that slick, wet thud in my ears that turns my thoughts wild with despair. Each thud becomes like the toll of a bell in my ears, a funeral bell ringing out into my guilty conscience.