It had only been a day since James left, yet the mansion suddenly felt quiet. Or perhaps it had always been this way, and Ren had simply forgotten what it felt like without him around.
He stood beside Zayden in the forest near the mansion.
The dark-blue-haired man sat under the parasol tree, his back colliding against its trunk, his arm resting on his knee.
The General hadn't gone to the training grounds, leaving his subordinates to handle missions and training while he spent time with the Crown Prince. No one dared object—the Crown Prince was a priority that could never be questioned.
Soren held a book in his hands, reading attentively under the large oak tree's shade, completely absorbed. It was a romantic love story between a commoner and a noble, something he could never experience, bound by duty and responsibility. As the story progressed, he found himself smiling only for his stomach to twist at the horrors the main character experienced—his dark past.
