They walked down the corridor again.
Same path.
Same silence.
Same boy who never truly looked at anything.
He blinked slowly when she spoke.
Responded when spoken to.
But only with facts.
Only with logic.
Never with warmth.
The days blurred together.
She was always there.
So was he.
Sometimes she showed him drawings.
Sometimes she pointed out birds.
Sometimes she told jokes that made the servants chuckle behind the walls.
Livar didn't laugh.
But once, when she tripped while trying to balance a tray, he smiled.
Just slightly.
Another time, when she confidently used the wrong word in a sentence, he chuckled.
"That's not what 'dignity' means," he said calmly.
She blushed.
He didn't.
He laughed sometimes, yes.
But only when she made mistakes.
Only when she was wrong.
Only when he could say things like:
"The little girl is wrong again."
"You're bad at this."
"You said you were smart."
"The little girl is right for once."
Not cruel.
Just... cold.
Always with a flicker of superiority.
When she dropped something.
When she got lost.
When she argued and he proved her wrong-
That's when he smiled.
Never for flowers.
Never for kindness.
Never for the little gifts she never admitted were gifts.
He never asked why she followed him every day.
He never thanked her.
He never questioned her presence.
Just allowed it.
She spoke less over time.
But she stayed.
Sometimes they sat in the garden.
Sometimes they walked the halls in silence.
He would speak, now and then. Not about himself. Not about her.
Only about what he saw.
What he noticed.
What she got wrong.
He was calm.
Too calm.
She started to realize-
There was nothing behind the eyes.
Only stillness.
Only echoes.
Only the shape of a person, without the storm inside.
But she didn't leave.
She never did.
Even when his laughter was empty.
Even when his voice was cold.
Even when she wasn't sure if he cared at all-
She stayed.
And though no one noticed-
Not the queen, not the servants, not even him-
She was always trying.
In every word.
Every look.
Every pause between the silence.
Because something had to reach him.
Even if he never knew that was why she came.
End of Chapter 24 - The Feelings That Wouldn't Return