The corridor outside Kael and Marina's chamber was quiet, save for the faint ticking of a wall clock and the hushed whispers that drifted through the half-closed door. Hugo had not intended to eavesdrop—at least, not at first. He had come only to check whether Lea was in the east wing, after she'd stormed out of the dining room in anger. But as he passed the door, Kael's voice reached him—low, ragged, and heavy with something Hugo had never expected to hear from that man: vulnerability.
Hugo froze. Instinct told him to walk away, to give the couple their privacy. But another voice—the stubborn one that had kept him alive through storms of doubt—urged him to stay. He leaned lightly against the wall, head bowed, listening.
"She thinks I treat her differently because she isn't mine by blood," Kael said. The weight in his tone made Hugo's chest tighten.
