The Light.

For several years spent in the castle, Marcus had a lot to see thanks to the ruthless experiments of his father and his subordinates, the young man's heart was closed to compassion.

In this cruel and cynical world, where he could not even protect his loved ones and himself, to think about helping others was not his priority.

He had long got rid of naive illusions that he could somehow influence the current situation in a significant way and was just waiting for the right moment to take his step.

The war was long, and no one could have planned its outcome. Anyone who thought that he had already become a winner, eventually turned into a loser. Marcus knew that in a matter of days or hours, his father's power would end, and that was exactly the chance he had been waiting for.

A chance to get the long-awaited freedom from this tyrant and everything connected with him. He even decided to help this woman, because she, apparently, was an important element for the realization of his father's ideas.

But now, standing and looking at her, tormented by pain, he was completely at a loss.

"Wh-what? What do you mean you are having labor? Wait, we didn't agree on me helping you with that," the young man began to look around, fortunately, the guard did not notice anything suspicious, but it was only a matter of time. Ten to fifteen minutes, and the search for the escaped captive will begin.

Usually, the guards involved dogs, but Marcus managed to add sleeping pills to the animals beforehand so that in case of searching for Armand they would be of a little or even no help, only the dogs would be given dinner no earlier than twenty minutes later, which meant there was a chance that he and the woman could be found before of this.

'Agh, damn it, why does something go wrong all the time?!' he cursed to himself, "Hold on to me, there is a barn nearby, we can hide there for a short while."

Somehow they got to the barn, but that did not make the situation easier. The young man had no idea what to do next, he also had no knowledge in this area.

He found some old rag to lay on the floor and put a woman on it.

In a good way, he should have already left her, and rather returned to the castle. But he could not force himself to do it. If he could not do much in his life, at that moment he was sure that the life of another, small creature could depend on his actions.

The young man took a deep breath and sat down on his knees next to the woman, "Ummm, what is there to do... do you need, uh, to push?" he asked either himself or her in an uncertain voice.

The woman did not say anything, but from her groans, he realized that his comments were useless. Nature in this regard was much more powerful than his modest attempts to provide assistance, and all that remained for Marcus was to cheer her up.

"Well, well, breathe, everything will be fine," he reassured the woman, although of the two of them he himself needed it more.

"W-what is it?" Clara asked, she was almost out of breath and her strength was on the verge.

"Ha? Do you want me to check you t-there?!" Marcus hesitantly moved to the woman's legs and with trembling hands lifted the edge of her dress. The young man could hardly restrain himself not to throw up, he did not expect that the picture would be so unpleasant.

'God, how do they even do this?!' His shock gave way to bemusement, to know about it in theory, and to see this process in reality, was like things from different realities.

"Uh, what is it, a head? I see the head!" All the attention of the young man turned to a small creature, about to prepare to be born. He no longer saw everything that was happening around, and was absorbed in expecting what should happen in a matter of minutes.

"So, a little more, push a little more," Marcus instinctively put his hand under the child's head, he had never touched anything that was so gentle to the touch.

The woman gathered all her strength and made her last effort, Marcus's eyes widened in amazement and joy when he felt in his arms a small creature whose head was even smaller than his palm.

"This is a girl... Congratulations, this is a girl," tears came to his eyes as the child made the first sound in her life.

"You need to cut the umbilical cord," said Clara, the birth took all her strength, and she felt that she was falling into a deep sleep.

"Cutting the umbilical cord?" Marcus swallowed, gently placed the baby on the bedding and opened the medicine bag he had collected before. Who would have thought that it would be useful to him so soon, and even more so for such a case?

Relying on logic, he made the necessary manipulations. 'Hmm, isn't there too much blood?' he thought, examining the woman, 'Maybe it should be like this?'

"Give me her, please," Clara whispered and held out her hand. Marcus gently lifted the baby and laid her on the woman's chest. A long-forgotten feeling of warmth appeared inside him when he saw the smile with which the woman looked at the child. Interestingly, their mother was also glad when she and Armand were born?

"My Lucia," Clara kissed her daughter on the forehead, removed the pendant from her neck and hung it on the child's neck, "I'm sorry that your mother turned out to be so stupid, but I'm happy that you came to this world," she covered the girl with her hands and closed eyes.

"Thank you, you have a good heart," the woman whispered, turning to Marcus.

"You do not know me to talk about who I am. Kindness is definitely not about me," Marcus joked. He did not deserve her gratitude since he originally saved her due to his own selfish goals.

The roof of the barn was decrepit and through it, the full moon was visible, which entered into its nightly possessions. Moonlight pierced through the gaps here and there. Crickets creaked in the grass outside, the forest plunged into the blessed silence of a night's sleep.

"Even if the moment comes and your heart is completely covered with darkness, do not turn away from the light. Only one who knows the darkness can fully experience how beautiful the light can be," whispered Clara, her voice was a little hoarse and weak, but in the silence of the night, this weakness created harmony.

"Lucia Clara Teser. Lucia means light. I believe that she will be able to give the light that will warm even the darkest heart. If there is at least one person in this world who believes in you, the light will never leave you," the woman said and fell silent.

Marcus looked thoughtfully at the rays of moonlight, it was as calm around as if the world outside this dilapidated building did not exist at all. He would like to find the same peace.

"There is no person in this world who believes in me," he answered quietly.

The young man closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of night nature. He did not know how much time had passed, but it was time to move on.

"Madame, I know that you are very tired, but we have to leave soon. You said that your man will meet you, but when will he show up?" Marcus asked her, but there was no answer.

"Madame?" It seemed to him that Clara fell asleep, and he reluctantly touched her hand to wake up, "Mad .." The woman's hand slipped and fell to the floor.

A terrible feeling sent goosebumps on his back, Marcus raised a hand to the woman's neck and began to probe her pulse.

"Damn, damn..."

She died.

The child, as if sensing the passing warmth from the mother's body, squirmed on her chest. A few seconds later in the barn there was a loud cry of the baby.

"Stop, stop, don't, don't cry," Marcus tore off the hem of the woman's dress and carefully wrapped the girl in fabric. Holding the newborn to him, the young man got to his feet and looked at the mother of the child. How could she leave this world, leaving the baby alone?

Thoughts began to rush in his head at the speed of light. Now what? He needs to return to the castle, but what to do with the baby? Throw her here after he himself helped her to be born? Running right now with the baby? But where? He had not yet been convinced that Armand had escaped, how could he leave now?

CLICK.

But the characteristic sound behind him instantly made a choice for him.

"Slowly turn around and give me the baby. And don't even think about doing something reckless."

Marcus did as he was ordered, and the first surprise after hearing the voice gave way to even greater surprise when he saw the owner of the voice.

In front of him, under the tints of moonlight, a beautiful woman was standing, her black hair falling in waves on her shoulders and reaching her waist, her eyes were confident and cold, and her voice was like the sound of music. Her brown eyes flashed blue for a moment, making the young man's breath go away at that instant.

She looked him over and, making sure he was unarmed, lowered her gun. "Give me the baby," the woman said in an orderly tone.

"Do you know the girl's mother?" Marcus pressed the baby to his chest and asked a question to confirm his assumptions.

He had not seen this woman before, so it was likely that she was the person that Clara was waiting for.

"Yes, now give the baby back here," the woman repeated her demand.

The young man cast a farewell look at the child and handed the girl into the hands of a stranger. She carefully took her, as if this baby was the most valuable creature on the planet, after which the woman turned around and headed for the exit.

"Lucia."

"What?"

"Her name is Lucia," repeated Marcus, "Lucia Clara Teser."

"I see. Great name," the woman replied and looked sadly at the mother of the child lying on the cold floor.

"I advise you to leave this place by morning," the stranger added, before hiding in the dark of night.

The young man once again examined the room, found an old gray sheet and covered a woman's body with it.

"I think your child will be safe, so you can sleep peacefully," he said quietly, turned around and left.

Marcus had only thirty minutes left before midnight.