My answer earned me a squint from him, the kind that said he wasn't buying a single word of it. Lucian tilted his head slightly, studying me with that unnervingly calm expression that made it impossible to tell if he was teasing or dissecting me.
"I believe you're a bit… unique," he said at last, his tone casual but his eyes sharp. "You know, I did investigate you."
My stomach twisted. "You what?"
He ignored the mild panic in my voice, continuing smoothly, "Of course I would. I wouldn't want to accidentally marry an unknown phoenix, right?" He chuckled, the sound low and unbothered before his tone shifted back to something more serious. "And yet, I found nothing. No records, no traces… not even a birth registry from the phoenix archives. It's like you just… appeared. Pop, out of nowhere?"
