Nightfall — Redwood Hall Balcony
The stars had begun to scatter across the sky. Cool wind swept over the courtyard.
Ethan stood on the upper balcony, alone, his arms folded.
Ethan was standing on the upper balcony, outside, his arms crosswise.
He thought of all the things he would give anything to tell her.
“I never ceased to care.”
“I did not come all the way here to hurt you.”
“I never stopped thinking about you.”
But none of those words would reach her, not now.
Sophia didn’t believe in words anymore.
She believed in action.
In follow-through.
And maybe—just maybe—that’s why she hadn’t cut off the alliance completely. Why was she coming at all?
To give him a chance to prove that his loyalty wasn’t just written on a page.
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Next Morning — Ethan’s Quarters
He woke before
