The castle did not return to normal the next day. If anything, it became more controlled.Guards stood in pairs at every hallway. Doors were checked before opening. Even servants moved faster, quieter, as if the walls themselves were listening and Aphrodite noticed all of it.
But she just didn't comment.
In the royal wing, Slyvara sat comfortably in a lounge room, sipping tea as if nothing had happened at all and Aphrodite stood nearby, waiting silently.
"Careful," Slyvara said suddenly, without looking at her. "You're holding that tray like you might drop it."
"I won't," Aphrodite replied calmly.
Slyvara finally glanced at her, eyes sharp with amusement.
"You always say that," she murmured. "And yet… accidents seem to follow you."
And she said nothing.
Lesha stood at the edge of the room, watching carefully, her expression tight but controlled.
Slyvara smiled faintly and leaned back. "Leave us."
Lesha hesitated. Aphrodite gave a small nod and slowly, Lesha stepped out.
The door closed. Silence stretched between them.
Slyvara tapped her finger lightly against her cup. "Do you know what I think is interesting?"
Aphrodite didn't respond.
"I think," Slyvara continued, "that someone caused quite a disturbance yesterday… and yet you were somehow in the center of it."
Aphrodite's grip tightened slightly on the tray.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said evenly.
Slyvara's eyes narrowed with a small smile.
"Of course you don't."
Outside the room, Lesha stood near the hallway wall, watching guards pass by.
Then she saw him.
King Nikklaus.
Disguised again—different clothing, different posture—but the same presence that made the air feel slightly heavier and he didn't look at anyone. Except for one moment.
His gaze flicked briefly toward the room Aphrodite was inside.Then away again.
Lesha frowned slightly.
"…He's here again," she whispered to herself.
Inside the room, Slyvara suddenly stood.
She walked slowly around Aphrodite, studying her like something she couldn't quite understand.
"You're quiet today," Slyvara said. "More than usual."
Aphrodite finally looked up. "Is there something you want?"
Slyvara smiled.
"Oh, I always want something."
A pause.
Then softer, almost sharp beneath the sweetness—
"I just haven't decided what to take from you today."
Aphrodite's expression didn't change, but something in her eyes dimmed slightly.
Down the hall, Nikklaus stopped briefly near a pillar. A faint shift in his expression, Not toward Slyvara.
Not toward the guards but toward Aphrodite. A quiet tension only he seemed to feel. Then he continued walking.
Back in the room, Slyvara clapped her hands lightly.
"Enough of this," she said. "Take the tray and go. You're making the room feel dull."
Aphrodite obeyed without speaking. As she turned to leave, Slyvara added casually:
"Oh… and Aphrodite?"
Aphrodite paused.
Slyvara's smile sharpened.
"Try not to attract too much attention. It never ends well for you."
Aphrodite walked out slowly, joining Lesha in the hallway.
Lesha immediately stepped closer. "Are you alright?"
Aphrodite nodded but her silence said otherwise.
Down the corridor, she felt it again. That strange pressure like someone was watching but it wasn't threatening. Not distant. Just… there. She didn't know why.
But her heart tightened slightly anyway.