The manor is quieter than usual tonight. No footsteps echoing down the stone halls, no doors creaking open and shut, no servants rushing to prepare meals or tidy away Icarus’s mess. Just silence, heavy and soft, as though the world itself wants to bow out and leave the two of us alone.
“You’re staring,” he murmurs without looking up, his mouth tilted in the faintest smirk. He leans back, sleeves rolled up, shirt unbuttoned just low enough to show a thin line of skin.
“I wasn’t,” I lied.
“You were.” His eyes finally lifted to mine, gleaming gold in the candlelight. “And you’re still staring now.”
I scoff, hugging my arms to my chest. “Maybe I was just thinking about how much dust you let collect in here. A man so powerful, and yet incapable of opening a window.”
“Ah.” He tips his head
