Ryuzen did not insult either of them by asking how she knew. "Obviously."
Because only an idiot would believe Lucienne had gone.
The siblings were many things: young by the standards of monsters, deeply unfortunate in their assignment, and currently standing inside the emotional radius of a woman whose idea of affection likely required international law revisions.
But they were not stupid enough to think she had abandoned Phei's vicinity.
Her obsession ran too deep for that.
Obsession was not even the correct a word, perhaps.
It sounded almost human, like something manageable with therapy, locked doors and better hobbies.
But Lucienne's fixation on Phei felt older, quieter, more horrifying, a bewitching hunger folded into patience, the kind of longing that did not chase because it already believed the entire road belonged to it.
Besides, there was another reason they knew she had not gone.
Her presence remained.
