Finished the first draft of Chapter 3!!!!! 🎉

186 notebook pages, and finally, it is over. I am... tired, but so very happy. I love it. I really, really do 😭. The last part of the chapter can be divided into 3 major scenes. The first is 69 pages long, the second is 110 pages long, and the third is only 6 pages.

When I finished the first scene, I thought it'd be my favorite, but then, the second came around and said "no," and then came the third, and I think I love it best of all. 💛

The second one was the hardest because the characters kept pulling me in different directions than I had planned. Rafael was the first. He was going so smoothly, but then, towards the end of his section, it just... didn't fit right. I crossed out 3 pages and tried again. Better, but... still not Raf, still not how he would speak and react.

I went to sleep and wrote that part for a third time, and I got it. I love it 😭.

Lance, my handsome bard, made me reconsider what I wanted as well. It wasn't as dramatic as Rafael's, but I realized that a conversation I had planned would fit SO MUCH better in the next chapter instead. And so, this last scene with him was unexpected, but it's so much more Lance than in my planner. It also paces the friendship/romance a lot better, so again, I was extremely happy with the result.

And, then, Hadrian. Hadrian didn't fight me, but he took my hand and said, not enough. As I was writing his scene, he kept pulling me down a path I didn't plan to get into just yet. But the more I struggled against it, the more I realized how pointless it was. It's just right for his romance, and for his character, and, most importantly, for Romanus. I gave in, and what was already a lengthy scene turned into an 18-page odyssey. I read it 3 times after it was over. 🥺 I adore him. I adore how he adores Romanus.

I was very fatigued by then, so I didn't write Thursday before pouring into Alessa. I didn't want to rush her scenes or, worse yet, force her into a mold that wasn't her. The paused day was just what I needed. I— love it so much 😭😭😭 I fell a little bit in love with my cold mercenary. She surprised me the most, but I won't say how because I want you to experience her for yourselves.

I'm so nervous for you guys to play it!!! 🫣 But I also can't wait. I wished I could snap my fingers and have it done.

But, such isn't life. We'll have to go through the trenches. As I said before, I wrote a lot of the significant variations in this first draft (towards the end of scene 2, there are a lot of variations that I didn't write, but all of them are much shorter than the ones I wrote), so I want the second draft to fly by!!!

First, however, I want to work on the Bonus Content. It's a welcomed change of pace. My head is still slightly spinning, honestly. The first draft is, by far, the one that requires the hardest mental strain because that's where I figure out how to structure the scenes, what will be the major things said, what is left unsaid, what works, what has to be reworked, what makes sense, and what doesn't... It's, by far, my favorite part of creating, but I always feel like I need a vacation after 😆.

So, the Bonus Content will be a good change of pace for a few days. I'll start on Monday! Tomorrow, I need to take my mind off the Rose. The goal for next week is to finish all the Patreon content and focus 1000% on bringing these pages to you.

I hope your weekend is going amazing. I have a dog's cold snout pressing on my thigh, requesting me to take him for a walk, so, alas, I must listen. This is, after all, Nero's world, and I am just living in it.

See you soon!!! 🌹