Aesa let out a slow breath. Her eyes settled on the old man with a cold, distant calm. Unlike Eccar, who would have tried to talk his way through this and find some kind of understanding, she had no interest in dragging this out.
Words always felt unnecessary to her, heavy and inefficient. Conversations twisted into complications she never cared to deal with.
That was why she preferred not to be alone on missions like this. Someone else could handle the talking. Someone else could deal with people.
But now, there was no one else.
"This is why I hate doing this alone," she muttered quietly.
Arven stood across from her. His sharp eyes study every detail without missing a thing. The faint mist rising from her body, the unnatural drop in temperature, the way the air seemed to react to her presence.
He didn't need confirmation anymore. Everything about her existence felt strange in a way he could not fully explain, yet completely understood as a scholar.
