After breakfast, the Ashthorn manor slipped into its usual rhythm.Kaelric clattered steel against steel in the courtyard. Serenya practiced quiet, needle-precise footwork beneath the shade of an old maple. Elinor ran circles around everyone with the boundless energy of a sunbeam that had learned to sprint.
Lucian walked the stone path toward the west wing, half-listening to the familiar sounds of home.
He didn't get far.
A messenger in crisp Veyra livery stood at the manor gates, bowing low the instant Lucian approached.
"Heir Ashthorn," the man said, voice formal but strained, "Lady Lysette requests your presence at the Veyra estate. Immediately."
Lucian blinked.Elinor, who had somehow materialized beside him like a summoned spirit, clutched his sleeve.
"Do you have to go?" she mumbled, lower lip wobbling.
He softened, ruffling her curls. "I'll be back before supper."
Kaelric, overhearing from the courtyard, scoffed like he had swallowed a nail. Serenya paused mid-stance, eyes narrowing in interest.
Lucian offered them a vague salute and followed the messenger out the gates.
The Veyra estate rose like a frostbound palace carved from pale stone. Roses white as winter breath, climbed along the arches, trembling lightly in the afternoon breeze.
Lucian had barely stepped into the entry hall when she appeared.
Lysette Veyra.
Draped in soft green silk, expression porcelain-smooth, eyes colder than the marble beneath their feet. At the sight of him, the elegant mask cracked by a fraction not enough to show emotion, but enough to sharpen the air between them.
"You came," she said. The words were neutral. The tone was not.
Lucian smiled the same soft, idiotic smile he always reserved for her. "You called, so how could I refuse?"
Her jaw tightened.Elinor still glued to his hand, tilted her head and observed Lysette like a suspicious cat judging a stranger.
Lysette's gaze flicked downward. The ice in her expression thawed instantly.
"Elinor," she said, voice gentle as falling snow. "You're visiting today too?"
Elinor huffed. "Only because Luci didn't want to come alone."
Lucian's eyebrows rose, but he decided not to comment.
Lysette crouched slightly, smoothing a stray curl behind the child's ear. "You look lovely. That ribbon suits you."
The one from yesterday.Silver threads glimmered in her blonde hair.
Elinor pretended not to be pleased, but her grin betrayed her. "Thank you."
Lysette stood again, frost immediately returning as she faced Lucian. "My father wished to speak with you, but he has been called away. You may wait in the garden."
"I don't mind waiting," Lucian said brightly.
"I know," she muttered, as if that was somehow the problem.
The Veyra gardens were quiet this time of day, filled with drifting petals and faint birdsong. Lucian sat on a stone bench, Elinor perched beside him kicking her legs against the air.
Footsteps crunched on gravel.
A young woman approached, arms full of bundled herbs, hair tied back loosely. She blinked in surprise and broke into a warm smile.
"Oh! Sir Lucian!" she exclaimed. "You're here again! I still haven't thanked you for the medicines you funded last month. The whole quarter still talks about it!"
Lucian opened his mouth, mainly to deny doing anything noble, but she continued cheerfully, placing a small satchel into his hands.
"These sweets are for you. You always forget to eat when you're busy."
Elinor gasped. "He does! He forgets a lot of things!"
Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose.
Behind them, a soft click of heels froze the air.
Lysette stood at the entrance to the path, her expression blank, but only the way ice is blank before it cracks.
Her eyes flicked from Lucian…to the smiling girl…to the bag of sweets in his hands.
Lucian, oblivious, simply said, "She's very kind."
Lysette's voice was a razor. "So I see."
Elinor whispered loudly, "Luci, she looks unhappy."
Lysette inhaled sharply. "I am not—"
But the sentence never finished.
The herb girl glanced nervously between them. "Ah—I should go. My apologies! Goodbye, Sir Lucian!" She fled with impressive speed.
Lysette stared at Lucian a beat too long.
He tilted his head. "Something wrong?"
Her reply arrived wrapped in frost. "No."
Elinor elbowed Lucian in the side and whispered, "You did something."
"I didn't," he whispered back.
She squinted at him. "Mama says men never know when they do something."
Lysette went very still.Lucian decided retreat was the best option.
On the walk back to Ashthorn, Elinor skipped alongside him, ribbons bouncing.
"Luci," she said suddenly, tugging his sleeve. "There were so many strings today. Everywhere."
"Strings?" he echoed.
She nodded vigorously. "Like… threads. Connecting things. People. Places. It felt weird."
Lucian looked ahead, watching sunlight filter through swaying branches.
"Just threads in the afternoon, Eli," he murmured. "Nothing that worries us."
But a hint of tension pulled at the edge of his voice, so faint even Elinor didn't notice.
And the sun dipped lower as the Ashthorn heir walked home, shadows stretching long across the garden path behind him.