Take Me Away, Dark Lord!

Kaelus closed his eyes, the last lingering knot of tension in his chest finally unraveling. ”Excellent. You may leave.”

As the doctor exited, Kaelus finally allowed his exhaustion to catch up with him.

He pulled the velvet chair back to the bedside and sat down heavily, resting his forearms on his knees.

”See?” Seraphina said, taking another sip of broth. ”I told you I was okay. Now you have to sleep. You look like a raccoon. A very handsome raccoon, but still.”

Kaelus raised an eyebrow, a faint, dry smirk touching his lips. ”A raccoon. The respect for my authority continues to plummet.”

Before he could offer a proper retort, the soft, polite chime of the door knocker echoed through the room.

Kaelus’s posture instantly stiffened, the relaxed atmosphere vanishing in a microsecond.

His hand drifted automatically toward Requiem.

”Enter,” he commanded, his voice cold.

The door opened smoothly, and Marquess Julian Myer stepped into the room.

He was dressed impeccably, as always, in a tailored coat of pale silver silk.

He carried a large, beautifully woven basket filled with rare, vibrant southern fruits and several small, elegantly wrapped boxes that smelled faintly of expensive chocolate.

”Kaelus,” Julian said softly, his golden eyes sweeping the room before landing on the bed. His face lit up with a brilliant, genuinely relieved smile. ”By the Light. The servants already told me, but I had to see it with my own eyes. Lady Seraphina, you gave us all quite the fright.”

Seraphina froze, the spoon stopping halfway to her mouth.

Her childish mind braced for impact.

She waited for the terror, overwhelming, suffocating presence of what happened before to slam into her core again, to send the spectral bugs crawling beneath her skin, to plunge her back into the agony of three days ago.

She stared into his golden eyes.

She stared at his smiling face and reached out with her Spirit Sight, cautiously, defensively.

And...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing happened.

The terrifying, unnatural absence of existence that she had felt in the restaurant was completely gone.

To her Spirit Sight, Marquess Julian Myer now looked exactly like what he was supposed to be: a normal, powerful, slightly stressed human noble.

He had a faint, healthy aura of neutral ambient mana.

There was no gray fog, no hiding ghosts, but there was also no terrifying void.

He was just a guy holding a fruit basket.

Seraphina blinked, thoroughly confused. ’Wait. What?’

She looked at Kaelus, who was currently glaring at Julian with enough focused killing intent to slice a boulder in half.

Then she looked back at Julian.

’It wasn’t him?’ Seraphina’s mind raced, trying to piece together the anomaly. ’Or at least, it’s not him right now. Did he have a cursed artifact in his pocket at the restaurant? Strange, if he had one, then it would. n’t affect me, considering I wield the power of darkness myself. Did he cast a temporary spell that wore off? Or... was it me? Did my newly awakened core just randomly misfire and panic at a new environment?’

Whatever the reason, the immediate, existential threat was absent.

She didn’t feel the urge to scream.

She just felt slightly awkward holding a spoon while two powerful men engaged in a silent, aggressive staring contest over her bed.

”I brought some gifts,” Julian continued, seemingly unbothered by Kaelus’s glare. He walked forward, placing the basket on the table near the window. ”Sweets from the capital, and Star-peaches from my personal orchard. I was told they are excellent for restoring vitality.”

He turned back to the bed, offering Seraphina a gentle, polite bow. ”I am incredibly glad to see you recovering, young lady. The estate has been holding its breath for your health.”

”Thank you, Mr. Marquess,” Seraphina replied automatically, using her best, polite orphan voice. She watched him carefully, but her core remained completely dormant. ”The peaches look very pretty.”

Julian smiled, a look of relief washing over his flawless features.

He turned to Kaelus. ”Kaelus, I know you wish to depart as soon as possible. The teleportation gate is prepped and fully charged. However, I highly recommend you stay for at least another week. The journey through the gate can be jarring for a recovering child. My estate is completely at your disposal.”

Kaelus did not blink.

He stared at Julian, his violet eyes analyzing every micro-expression on the Marquess’s face.

Kaelus didn’t know what had caused the child’s agony.

He still didn’t trust Julian.

The fact that the man was offering his estate so freely only made Kaelus’s paranoia spike higher.

”We will remain until she is fully recovered,” Kaelus said, his voice flat, offering no gratitude. ”We will not use your main dining hall. Our meals will be prepared by Bastion personnel. You will inform your staff that the guest annex is a restricted zone. Anyone crossing the threshold without my explicit permission will be considered an assassin and dealt with accordingly.”

It was an incredibly rude, hostile response to a host’s hospitality.

Julian’s smile tightened slightly at the edges, but he maintained his flawless composure. He bowed his head gracefully.

”I understand completely, Kaelus,” Julian said smoothly. ”A father’s protective instincts are paramount. The annex is yours. I shall leave you to your rest. Good day, Lady Seraphina.”

With a final, elegant nod, Julian turned and exited the room, the door clicking softly shut behind him.

The moment he was gone, Kaelus let out a low, dangerous breath.

He turned to Seraphina.

”Did it hurt?” Kaelus demanded urgently. ”When he stepped into the room, did the burning return?”

Seraphina shook her head. ”No. It felt fine. He just felt like a normal person today.”

Kaelus frowned, his brow furrowing deeply.

He didn’t like the word ’today.’

It implied a variable he couldn’t control.

But the fact that she was not in pain was the only priority that mattered.

”Good,” Kaelus muttered, rubbing his temples, the exhaustion finally catching up with him in a massive, crushing wave. ”Then you will rest. And I will...”