Liam did not answer immediately.
The office remained quiet after Thion's words, but the silence no longer felt administrative. Whatever official shape the conversation had carried moments ago had been pushed aside with the report and pen on the desk.
Now, with the Headmaster seated across from him, hands folded loosely over the polished wood, eyes calm but sharpened by something far more personal than school business, Liam understood that the real conversation had only just begun.
Thion watched him carefully.
Not like an instructor watching a student.
Not like a ruler's servant watching a political danger.
Like a starving man sitting before a locked door he had spent decades trying to open.
Liam's expression did not change, but his guard rose.
"That sounds concerning," Liam said.
Thion's smile widened faintly, though there was no offense in it. "It should."
Liam said nothing.
