Even Ivy froze in place. She had never expected Martha to say she already had a boyfriend.
At that moment, it felt as if her plans for her brother's love life were collapsing in front of her.
She glanced at Kael with a troubled expression, her heart softening at the sight.
Her eyes almost conveyed the message, 'Brother, you are way too late!'
Kael had lowered his head, shoulders slightly stiff, as if he were bracing himself against an invisible blow.
He did not say a single word.
Martha, who had originally spoken only to escape the situation, now looked at Kael.
His expression no longer held its usual cold indifference.
Instead, there was a fragile tension, a quiet grief tucked in his eyes.
'Is this really the Kael I remember?' she wondered. 'The aloof, distant boy who never cared to spare even a glance at me? Why does it look as if he is trying not to cry?'
For a brief second, Martha felt the strange urge to reach out and comfort him.
Yet she held herself back.
