For a beat, neither spoke.
Then Kael suddenly noticed her standing there, frozen and staring.
His anger deflated in a puff of awkwardness.
He cleared his throat loudly.
"Ahem. Uh… I'm fine. Just… uh, exercising."
Selene sighed softly, placing the potion down on the side table.
"You really must take better care of your health," she murmured, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "How did you even get injured this badly?"
Kael gave her a sheepish grin, then groaned as he sank back into the bed.
'Let's just say… I had a bit of a disagreement with an undead', Kael thought dryly, the corners of his mouth twitching despite the dull ache in his ribs.
She moved to sit on the nearby stool, but as she did, Kael reached out and gently took her hand. Without a word, he tugged her closer — until she was seated beside him on the bed.
Then, slowly, he wrapped his arms around her.
Selene stiffened immediately, her cheeks flushing bright red.
"W-what are you doing?" she stammered.
Kael's voice was quiet, almost a whisper against the silence of the rain outside.
"Nothing. Just… feeling you here. Real. Warm."
She didn't pull away — only lowered her gaze, hands clutched nervously in her lap. Her voice, when it came, was barely audible.
"I-I see…"
Kael looked at her, really looked.
The way her hair curled near her neck, the worry in her eyes she tried to hide, the way she always showed up — even when he didn't deserve it.
He didn't know when it happened — when the feeling bloomed like fire in his chest — but it was there now.
Clear. Quiet. Warm.
He didn't know if it was good. Or if it made him weak.
But in that moment, with her beside him, it didn't matter.
He was happy.
And that mattered more than anything.
Kael glanced at Selene, his voice softer than before.
Thanks… for taking care of me."
She met his gaze, blinking once, then smiled gently.
"That's my duty," she said, but there was warmth in her voice — something unspoken lingering just beneath the surface.
Their eyes lingered on each other. The air between them grew still, slow, heavy with something fragile.
Kael leaned in slightly.
Selene didn't move away.
Their faces were inches apart. Her breath caught, his heart thudded once—loudly.
And then—
A deliberate cough.
Kael jolted upright with a sharp gasp, immediately wincing as pain flared in his side.
Selene blinked, startled, glancing around the room in confusion.
"What…?"
Hovering just above the bed — half-crossed arms, floating lazily midair — was Yue.
She had a sly, amused grin that tugged at the corners of her lips.
"Well," she said, voice low and far too entertained, "did I interrupt something?"
Kael stared, wide-eyed.
'Shit'.
Selene looked around, confused.
"What's wrong? Who are you looking at?"
Kael coughed awkwardly, pulling the blanket up a little too quickly.
"N-nothing. Just… thought I heard something."
Yue floated downward, resting her chin on her hand, smirking at him.
"You're welcome, by the way. That would've been your first kiss, huh?"
Kael's eye twitched.
Kael narrowed his eyes at the floating figure.
"You stalking bitch," he muttered under his breath.
Yue gasped in mock offense, placing a hand over her chest.
"Excuse me? I saved your sorry hide in that crypt, and this is the thanks I get? I was watching over you like a guardian spirit."
"A guardian spirit doesn't float into people's rooms uninvited in the middle of a moment!"
"You were about to do something dumb. Again. Someone has to supervise your hormone-addled choices."
Selene blinked, still seeing and hearing none of this — just watching Kael bicker with what appeared to be… thin air.
"I swear," Kael growled, "I'm gonna find a way to mute you."
"I dare you," Yue shot back, floating a little closer and making a face.
Kael groaned and ran a hand through his hair, then suddenly turned to Selene. The sharpness in his eyes made her straighten.
"Selene," he said quietly, voice steady now, "have you found out?"
Her smile faded.
She nodded slowly. "Yes…"
The air shifted — humor drained into tension, soft and serious.
Kael leaned forward slightly, injured or not, his gaze holding hers.
"What did you learn?"
Before slipping into his deep, exhausted sleep, Kael had only managed one clear instruction to Selene:
"Learn everything… about the duchy. My brothers. Their alliances. The rebellion. Soldiers, numbers, loyalties — I need to know who's playing this game."
Selene had bowed her head then, quietly accepting the task.
And now, two days later, she sat beside him once more — no longer just the soft-spoken caretaker, but a bearer of dangerous truths.
"I did as you asked," she said, voice low.
"I spoke to retainers, old guards, even servants from the other provinces. I gathered whispers from the guilds and informants from the outer towns. Kael…" —she hesitated— "you were right to ask."
Kael sat straighter, the pain in his ribs forgotten for a moment.
"Go on," he said.
Selene's voice dropped lower, her tone cautious — like each word was a stone she laid before Kael, one after another.
"Your eldest brother, Veyran… he's a Rank 3 magician now."
Kael's eyes narrowed, but he didn't speak.
"That alone is dangerous," she continued, "but what's worse — he's quietly gathered a hundred Rank 2 magicians under his banner. Secretly. I confirmed this through multiple sources."
Kael's jaw tightened. "And Father? The Duke?"
"I don't think he's unaware," Selene said carefully. "But… he hasn't acted. Not a word. It's as if he's waiting too — or pretending not to see it."
A cold silence filled the space between them.
Selene shifted slightly on the bed beside him.
"Your second brother, Aerik… he's different. A prodigy in blood magic. Rank 2 already — studying at the Royal Academy, the Empire's finest.
He's set to return home the day after tomorrow."
Kael didn't flinch. He had expected this much.
Selene hesitated, then added,
"He doesn't command soldiers… but he has something worse. The loyalty of General Morien."
Kael's head snapped toward her. "What?"
She nodded gravely.
"Morien. The general. Rank 3 magician. A veteran from the eastern wars. He's aligned himself with Aerik. Quietly. But completely."
Thunder rolled outside, distant but deep.
Kael stared into the dark beyond the window, heart steady but heavy.
His brothers weren't waiting.
They were moving.