The Secret Muse (#1)

Epilogue

Sometimes when we reach our end, we don't know it until it's too late.

When Emma came back from the 15th century, the accident happened too fast for her to react. Her body was thrown out of the flipped car, killing her instantly as she holds the stone and white rose soaked with her blood.

Soon, the police arrived to discover her body and another victim inside the car. The woman identified as Iris Mayfields miraculously survived the ordeal as Emma's daughter and uncle wept for Emma's death.

When Thomas witnessed the burial of her brother, he did not expect to witness the same thing with his beloved niece. She was like a daughter to her and has now unfortunately orphaned her 10-year-old daughter. When they arrive home, Venus is inconsolable.

Her mother was patient, kind, and understanding of her stubbornness. Knowing what it feels like to be her in the past has greatly helped her raise her daughter, especially in difficult times.

Even with the difficulty of handling her degree, she manages to focus on her daughter. Venus found herself remembering the memories she had with her late mother. The library is the one place that she usually frequents daily, just like her father once did. As she silently weeps for her grief, Thomas walks toward her with a journal in hand.

"Venus." He said as he approached her, making her turn around to face her. When she did, the first thing she noticed was the leather-bound journal that has her mother's initial. "Your mother has always intended for you to read this." He outstretched his arms towards her to give her the journal. When she took it in her hands, she runs her fingers on the initials on the cover. ESF. "You may read it whenever you are ready."

"Thank you, Uncle." She said, following Thomas's insistence on calling him uncle instead of 'great-uncle'.

Her face is filled with longing, something that Thomas has seen in Emma's eyes during Constantine's passing. He knew that Emma's gone but looking into Venus-who has taken so much of her mother-feels like looking at the younger version of Emma. She lives within her, he thought. "Your mother has also wished for you to have this." He then fished out a necklace that has long been passed down to their family. "This stone is special. It can lead you to many great things. I hope you use it wisely."

The warning was odd for Venus but she decided to say nothing nonetheless. Now that the stone has its new owner, Thomas wonders about the doors it will open for her. Will she follow in her mother's footsteps and create a life hidden within history or will she use it for something else? He asks himself.

In the year 1497, in late February, Botticelli found himself hopelessly downhearted when Emma fails to come back as she promised. The 52 years old painter got up from the bed, dresses up, and prepare for an uneventful day. There is not a moment where he did not think of his evening star and willed her to come back.

His patronage for the Medici family soon grew to disdain as he blames them for the loss of his beloved wife. It is one of the reasons why he chose to side with Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who campaigns for reforms for the church and the famous bonfire of the vanities.

He was also responsible for kicking the Medici's rule in Florence with his powerful speeches about faith and God.

Botticelli remembers every single panel and canvas he has thrown on the fire, out of pain and grief. Some of them are the portraits of his wife he had painted while they were still living together in the hopes that perhaps it would help him move on.

Despite the many paintings he has sacrificed, it failed to fill the void that was left upon Emma's departure.

Even with his wife gone, the only face he could see is her. The Madonnas he painted for the church always include her face despite his suppression of her memory inside his head. In his loneliness, he found little comfort in seeing her face in the paintings he makes no matter how much he denies it to himself.