Kael lay on the stiff church cot, eyes wide open, sleep refusing to come despite the exhaustion anchoring his limbs.
The room was cold, the stone walls breathing silence, but his mind wouldn't still.
Outside the narrow window, twin moons hung heavy in the sky—one silver, the other a quiet, bloodstained red.
He stared at them for a long time.
Yue's voice came gently, a whisper in the dark.
"What are you thinking?"
Kael didn't look at her.
"Nothing," he murmured.
"Just... things are moving too fast."
But it wasn't nothing.
His thoughts churned beneath the surface like stormwater.
Days ago, he had been a forgotten heir.
Powerless.
Bound by lineage and expectation.
Now—
He had killed Rank 3 mages.
He had killed his father—a Rank 4.
He was going to become a Duke.
If someone had told him this a month ago, he would've laughed in their face.
Now, it all felt strangely... distant.
Like it had happened to someone else.
Like he was watching a play he couldn't walk out of.
