Chapter 291: distant
Lital nodded, her black eyes distant for a moment, lost in memory.
Kael felt something tighten in his chest.
This wasn’t just some hideout or lair, a temporary bolt-hole.
This was personal—roots buried deep in the soil of her past.
"Come," she said, tugging him gently forward, her black fingernails grazing his skin in a light, possessive touch.
She gave him a quiet tour, room by room, her steps light and reverent, as if walking through a museum of her own life.
Each one small, functional, but clean now under her power’s touch—lived-in echoes of simpler times, beds with faded quilts, shelves lined with dusty knick-knacks that she brushed clean with a wave of shadow.
In the corner of a modest bedroom, she pulled out a small bookshelf tucked between a dresser and a curtain-draped window, the wood groaning faintly as she reached for a volume.
From it, she took a worn book, handling it with care, her black fingernails tracing the spine like a lover’s caress.
The cover was faded, the pages yellowed with age, but it was intact, the title embossed in gold that had dulled but not vanished.
The Princess and the Hidden Prince.
Lital ran her fingers across the cover reverently, her black lips parting in a soft sigh.