The moment remained suspended exactly as it was, but its sharpness began to soften without disappearing, as if the danger had not truly gone, but had only stepped back by a single pace. Below, Officer Kairen was no longer looking at the rooftop as before. Instead, he lowered his gaze slightly without fully turning his back on it, because the feeling that had passed through him had not ended. It remained lodged inside him in an uncomfortable way. He stood still for a moment longer than he should have, as if weighing the matter in silence, then passed his hand over his shoulder once more—not to check the dust, but to drive away the thought itself. Even so, he did not completely succeed, because his mind had already begun linking this moment to something he could not easily explain. Meanwhile, the child had not moved with his mother, but remained where he was. He was no longer repeating what he had said earlier, but moving beyond it, into a curiosity that refused to settle. His body leaned slightly forward, and his eye searched without fixing, as if he were trying to see the same thing again from a different angle. He stretched his hand out a little, as if he wanted to move forward, then hesitated. He was not afraid, but drawn in, unable to let the matter go so easily.
"Mother... wait."
She looked at him, and signs of irritation were beginning to show on her face.
"Why are you stopping again?"
He shifted his foot half a step forward without moving away from her.
"I just want to look."
She raised an eyebrow slightly.
"At what?"
He hesitated, then said while still looking,
"I don't know... but I want to make sure."
She sighed, her patience beginning to wear thin.
"I told you, there is nothing."
But he did not pull back. Instead, he leaned farther forward, as if trying to catch something that was no longer there.
"Just one moment..."
He stretched his hand out a little, as if he were about to take a step.
She caught him before he could move.
"Do not step forward."
He tugged his hand slightly, but did not resist strongly. He only remained hesitant, his gaze lingering, then returning.
"I won't take long..."
But she cut him off.
"It's over. We are leaving now."
She pulled him toward her, but he did not lower his gaze. He kept turning back, casting short, incomplete looks, as if a part of him had remained up on the roof.
At that moment, Kairen heard the child's voice as he spoke, and turned in his direction. He had not heard the whole exchange, but he had caught enough to draw his attention—especially the tone of the child's voice and the way he was looking upward. He watched him for a few brief seconds, then began moving toward them with slow, steady steps.
The mother had already begun to walk, pulling Dan with her as she said in a lightly hurried tone,
"Come, we are going back home. We do not want to be late."
But Kairen's voice stopped them.
"Stop."
Kael was not merely listening. He was living every moment as though balanced on the edge of exposure. His body was still, but inside he was not. Every word from the child forced him to recalculate, to reevaluate what he had done. And with Kairen's very first step toward them, he tightened his body further and held his breath.
"He noticed..."
he said to himself.
The mother froze in place and turned toward him. Before she spoke, her eyes fell on the insignia fastened to his chest, and she read:
Officer — Kairen
She tightened her grip on her son's hand a little, then said respectfully,
"What is it, sir?"
Kairen took another step forward and looked at them with a focused gaze, then said,
"What is happening here?"
The mother answered quickly, trying to end the matter.
"Nothing, sir. He only said he felt as though he heard something, but there is nothing."
Kael's tension sharpened, but there was no longer any room for regret, because any movement now could drag everything back to a more dangerous point. So he remained still, waiting, calculating, watching.
"Do not speak... just do not speak."
Kairen turned his gaze toward Dan and fixed it on him, as if he was not fully convinced, then asked him directly,
"What did you hear?"
Dan wanted to speak, and he had already opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment—
a voice came from the other direction, clear and decisive, as if it had cut that taut thread in a single stroke.
"Officer Kairen!"
Kairen turned immediately, as though the call had pulled him out of his thoughts, and the guard approached quickly, his breathing slightly uneven, as if he had come in haste.
"Sir, there is an order from Commander Lior."
Kairen looked at them and gestured clearly with his hand toward the mother and child.
"Stay where you are."
The mother stopped and did not move, still holding Dan's hand, while Kairen turned his attention to the guard.
"What is it?"
The guard said:
"There was an incident at the gate during the previous watch."
Kairen stopped, as if the word had seized all his attention.
"Speak."
The guard:
"The two guards who were on watch... were taken to the palace."
His expression changed slightly.
"Why?"
"It is said they were asleep during the night watch."
Kairen fell silent for a moment, but this time it was not the silence of hesitation, but the silence of thought.
"Asleep...?"
The guard:
"Yes, and no one knows how it happened."
Kairen's eye shifted slightly upward without fully lifting his head, as if the thought had passed through him and then stalled.
"And did the two of them fall asleep at the same time?"
The guard:
"Yes."
He fell silent for a moment, then said,
"This is not normal... there is something strange. This has never happened before."
The guard answered,
"That is why all officers have been summoned to an emergency meeting."
Officer Kairen asked,
"Now?"
The guard replied,
"Yes, by direct order from Commander Lior, to take measures and assign a new guard to the gate."
Kairen was silent for a moment, then said,
"Alright... let's go."
After that, Kairen turned once more toward the mother and child, looked at them briefly, then said calmly,
"You may go."
The mother did not hesitate. She tightened her grip on Dan's hand and pulled him away, moving off without looking back.
At the same moment, Kael remained listening until the sound began to recede, then soften, then disappear.
"It is over... everything almost ended..."
Only after that did he allow himself to move a little. He crawled slowly toward the edge, more cautiously than before, and gradually raised his head.
He looked.
The officer—
had moved away.
And the child—
had finally begun moving again with his mother, though this time she was pulling him along without stopping.
Below, the mother said as she dragged him with her,
"It is over, do not argue, we will not be any later."
The child said,
"But—"
She cut him off.
"There is nothing there."
He walked with her, but his head turned one last time, a shorter, weaker glance, then lowered and he kept walking.
Above—
Kael remained looking between the two directions: Officer Kairen walking toward the palace, and the woman and her child moving away in another direction. He remained between them for a moment, not moving, not deciding, but the thought began to sharpen.
"The guards... are they the same two from the gate..."
he said to himself.
"I saw them... being taken away."
He stopped.
"And now... it has been confirmed."
He tightened his breath.
"So... what happened was not a coincidence."
"Things are beginning to come to light. I have to find my way now."
He looked toward the first direction.
"But this path... is finished."
Then he looked toward the other.
Toward the woman.
Toward the basket.
Toward the fruit.
The feeling returned.
Stronger.
"And this... is still open."
He paused.
Then said with steady inner clarity,
"There is no time for hesitation."
He went silent for a brief moment.
Then settled it.
"I have chosen my path."