I felt it before anyone else did.
A pressure—sharp, unfamiliar—brushed against my awareness as I toddled through the garden, Nolan's hand loosely gripping mine.
Something was wrong.
Not danger exactly.
Attention.
I stopped walking.
"Nolan," I said slowly. "Wait."
He blinked. "Huh?"
The air shifted.
A presence stepped into the garden path ahead—an unfamiliar man in neutral robes, smiling politely, eyes far too sharp.
"Forgive me," he said smoothly. "I was told the Duke's children might be here."
Lilian stiffened instantly.
"We weren't informed of any visitors," she replied, stepping in front of us.
The man's gaze flicked—briefly, deliberately—to my wrist.
That was all it took.
The bracelet pulsed.
Heat flared, sudden and absolute, wrapping around my arm like a shield. The world tilted—then pushed back.
The man staggered half a step, his smile cracking.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
Lilian didn't hesitate. She scooped me up, turning sharply. "Nolan. Inside. Now."
"What—?"
"Now."
The moment I was in her arms, the pressure vanished. The bracelet cooled, runes fading as if nothing had happened.
But I knew.
So did he.
As we moved away, I looked over Lilian's shoulder.
The man was still standing there, eyes narrowed, no longer pretending.
He hadn't seen my power.
He'd felt it.
And that meant something terrifyingly simple:
The bracelet didn't just hide me.
It reacted because someone else had noticed.
As Lilian carried me inside, her grip tight, one thought settled cold and clear in my mind:
The waiting period was over.
The world had begun to look back.