✦ Chapter 50 ✦
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Lucien stood before the wide iron gates of his mansion, the winter air sweeping across the open grounds and threading through his long white hair like restless fingers. The cold did not touch him the way it touched others. It merely moved around him, tugging at the hem of his dark robes and stirring the fur lining at his collar. Snow from the previous night lay in pale remnants along the stone paths, already surrendering to the early sun that rose cautiously behind a veil of silver clouds.
The morning was quiet in that peculiar way only winter could manage—sound carrying farther, sharper, as though the world itself had been thinned by frost.
Measured footsteps approached from behind.
Lucien did not turn immediately. He already knew the rhythm of those steps, steady and grounded. Only when the sound drew close did he shift his head slightly, his golden eyes meeting Adrian's brown ones. No words were exchanged. None were needed.
Adrian gave a single nod.
