The house remained quiet for a long time after Sylphie finished speaking. The low fire in the hearth still burned with a soft flame, casting slow shadows over the wooden walls and the vines growing across the ceiling. Outside, the Central Realm remained distant, ancient, and immense, but inside, everything seemed reduced to the space between them. Kael remained seated on the sofa, with Sylphie lying across his lap, his fingers sliding through her white hair in slow, repeated motions.
Sylphie kept her eyes closed, but she was not asleep. Kael could tell from the way her breathing changed whenever his hand passed near her ear, or when his fingers descended to the nape of her neck and returned through the soft strands. She seemed to be trying to absorb every touch as if storing silent proof that he had truly returned. A hundred years had changed many things in her, but that simple gesture still disarmed her completely.
Kael watched her for a while before speaking.
"You are quiet."
