Reverend Father Hart

tightrope he was walking. Despite his best efforts to maintain his professional distance, his thoughts often wandered back to Cers

, especially when it came to matters of the heart. But as he watched Cersei struggle week after week, he couldn't help

made her usual confession and received her penance,

e, he called her name

y knew what was coming. Slowly, she turned to face him, a slight,

asked, his voice gentle but firm. "Not as part of confession, bu

oked at her-a quiet sincerity-that made her pause. Slowly, she nodded and wa

of the ritual of confession. I've been thinking about what you've shared with me, and I want to help you

lence stretching between them like an unspoken tension. Finally, she spoke, her voice barely au

g here for weeks, confessing the same sin. You're searching for something, Cersei. A

y in his voice. "Support?" she repeated,

hings more freely. I've seen people change before, but they need more than a few prayers

offering a kind word or if there was something more behind his offer. After a moment of quiet contempl

ing. I've seen the goodness in you, Cersei. I think you can break free from this

, as if weighing his words against the weight of everything she had endured.

I don't know how to start, or if I even can. But... maybe I co

f responsibility. "That's all I ask. We'll take it one step at a time. If you'r

mall flicker of something in her eyes-an ember

st about absolution or confession-it was about helping Cersei take the first step toward the freedom she longed for. H

metimes, it was simply about life-small details that Cersei shared tentatively, bits of her history, the darkness she had endured. Other times, the

the streets in the first place. She spoke of the abuse she had suffered as a child, of the friends who had led her down the path she now walk

ew this was only the beginning. The journey would be long and difficult, and there were many obstacles ahead. Still, he coul

nnocent at first, but they gradually grew more persistent. And that, more than anything else, fright