His fingers brushed her cheeks slowly, tracing the hollow that hadn't been there before.
They felt warmer than she remembered. His chest tightened.
"Why didn't you eat on time?" His voice was gentle, but the worry in it was impossible to miss.
Ivy muttered under her breath, "Felix must've snitched again."
Silas shook his head helplessly. "Not Felix," he corrected quietly. "You told me yourself."
Ivy frowned, but before she could respond, he caught her wrist.
It felt alarmingly thin beneath his fingers, fragile enough that his grip instinctively loosened.
His gaze sharpened. "You've been starving yourself," he stated. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have lost this much weight."
Only then did Ivy realize it herself. ''I really have lost a lot,'' she thought faintly.
Her shoulders slumped. "I feel guilty," she admitted. "Because of my decision, many soldiers turned into zombies."
Her voice grew quieter. "Their families came to me asking for compensation."
