Aveline wondered how far Edric would go, because she had already shown him what she would do to protect Hamilton, and yet, he was pushing her.

Then again, he was offering her a place to stay.

"He’s mine."

Edric’s gaze didn’t waver. If anything, it sharpened, not just at her words, but at how she said them. Her words were possessive, certain, and unyielding.

Interesting. Very interesting.

"I see," he murmured.

But the faint glint in his eyes said otherwise. He saw more than she realized. And that only deepened his interest.

Behind her, Kael exhaled quietly, already sensing where this was going—and not liking it at all.

Because the moment his father stopped resisting something... Was the moment he started wanting to understand it.

And she...

Could she be understood?

-----

Aveline was shown to her room, and there was nothing she could complain about.

It was spacious, elegant, and warm in the quiet, restrained way of Greenvale’s wealth. The room was larger than anything she had lived in for years, almost close to the one she had once grown up in before everything was taken from her.

Tall windows let in the pale afternoon light, soft curtains hanging in gentle folds. A polished wooden bed stood beneath a carved headboard, covered in thick, clean linen and layered blankets that looked almost too fine to touch.

A writing desk rested near one corner, neat and orderly, with a chair carved from dark wood. The walls were lined with subtle decorations—nothing gaudy, nothing excessive, only enough to remind her that every detail here had been chosen with care.

Even the air felt different, touched with the faint scent of polished wood and something clean and floral drifting in from the garden below.

Aveline slipped her hand into her pocket and felt the familiar weight of her mother’s pearl necklace.

Still there.

Her fingers lingered a moment before moving to make sure the roses were carefully kept as well.

Only then did she let out a quiet breath.

She sat by the window and looked out.

There was no denying it; Greenvale was wealthy. Even from here, she could see how much more refined it was than Aurelmont. She had never truly left her homeland before, not even the smaller place she had once called home near the border, and yet this level of luxury still felt strange to her. Unfamiliar. Almost unreal.

But not once did she feel tempted by it. Not really. Her heart was too heavy to enjoy the material riches.

She sat on the windowsill, Hamilton curled comfortably on her knees, and looked at the garden below. It was blooming beautifully—soft flowers with delicate scents, pathways trimmed into perfect lines, shadows falling in places that felt almost intentional, as though even the dark here had been arranged with purpose.

Hamilton settled against her with a quiet little huff, content simply to be near her.

Aveline glanced down at him again, the same question she had asked before slipping from her lips once more.

"What do you even eat?"

All these days, Hamilton had not eaten a single thing, and yet he still looked perfectly fine. The only thing he ever truly seemed to want was to stay close to her. As long as he was near her, he seemed happy enough.

Hamilton blinked up at her with those large amber eyes of his, then stuck out his tongue in the most shamelessly cute way possible.

Aveline laughed despite herself and bent to kiss the little creature on the head. She couldn’t help it.

"Here I am," she murmured, her voice softening as her gaze drifted back to the window. "Shifting from one place to another... without a home. I’m a nomad now."

No one wanted her with them.

Or if they did, it was never without some hidden reason. Never without something else behind it, waiting to be revealed. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

And that... was what hurt the most.

A life like this... where she felt she belonged nowhere, where every offer of shelter came with hesitation or motive... It was a lonely kind of pain. One that did not scream, but stayed. Quiet and constant. Heavy in the chest.

She let out a deep breath.

Then she went to bed.

Hamilton, still unused to this new place and strangely alert, perched on the pillow beside her instead of curling up to sleep. He watched the room with tiny, vigilant eyes, as if silently declaring that he would guard her through the night.

Seeing the little creature so fiercely devoted to her, Aveline’s heart softened.

And with that quiet comfort beside her, she drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Edric could not rest.

He remained in the library long after, turning over every detail in his mind, trying to determine where this girl belonged in the known classifications of shadow benders. She was powerful—clearly powerful—if she could bend without trace runes or carved runes at all. And yet even that felt insufficient to explain her.

She was something more.

Meanwhile, Aveline slept soundly, comforted by the simple certainty that Hamilton was there beside her. The thought of being a homeless orphan did not keep her from sleeping well. For that night, at least, she was warm. She was safe.

But in the middle of the night, she stirred.

Perhaps it was muscle memory.

Perhaps she simply felt him.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

And there he was.

Theron.

Sitting beside her, his large hand wrapped around hers, holding it with a warmth so familiar it made her chest ache. A single candle burned in the corner of the room, and in its dim glow she could see the gentleness in his dark eyes—the kind no one else seemed to notice, or perhaps the kind she wanted so badly to believe was reserved only for her.

"Theron..." she murmured.

This was the same man who had told her she was not even allowed to speak his name.

And yet in that moment, in the hush of the cold night, with only candlelight between them, none of it seemed to matter.

She forgave him too easily.

Too quickly.

But she yearned for him whether she wanted to or not.

She sat up, her hair sliding over her shoulders, and knelt on the bed as she moved closer to him.

"I missed you..."

Her arm slipped around his shoulder as she leaned in, her lips closing on his.