They left the hall without ceremony.
The noise of voices, clinking glasses, and forced laughter died the moment the doors closed behind them, cut off as cleanly as a blade through silk. The warmth vanished with it. What remained was stone, distance, and silence.
They walked side by side through the inner corridors of Morgain Castle.
There were no servants, maids or guards lingering in the shadows.
Everyone had been reassigned. Every capable hand was focused on the family, the guests, the gathering above. The heart of the castle had been emptied on Valttair's order, leaving only long stretches of corridor and the quiet authority of his presence.
The air felt colder here. Not because of the mountain outside, but because nothing softened it.
Trafalgar noticed the change immediately.
Valttair's expression had shifted back to what it usually was.
