Kallias walked away from the western study without looking back.

His footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor.

His expression remained unreadable, yet his mind refused to settle.

He had assigned Adriana to the western study for a reason.

It was isolated.

Far from the King's Court.

Far from him.

He had convinced himself that distance was the simplest solution.

The farther she stayed from him...

The quieter Xio would remain.

Yet the moment he remembered what the western study contained, his feet had carried him

there almost instinctively.

His jaw tightened.

He disliked that he hadn't been able to stop himself.

Several minutes later, after receiving word from a passing...