[Silthara Palace — Malika's Private Chamber — Continuation]
Silence did not leave after those words; it stayed, thicker and heavier now. As though even the air itself refused to move between them, and within that stillness Levin's voice lingered.
"…I should not have married you."
It did not fade; it remained etched. Zeramet stood unmoving, his expression unchanged, too controlled and too still; only his fingers betrayed him, a faint tremor and a breath held too long.
"…Do you regret it?" His voice came low and carefully shaped. "…marrying me, consort?"
Silence answered first. Heavy and unforgiving.
Levin did not look at him; his gaze remained distant, lost somewhere between memory and absence.
"…I…was an alpha. " The words came slowly as if each one had to be pulled from somewhere deep. "…an Alpha who was never meant to bear life."
