"B-Brazen!" Cassian choked out, his voice cracking spectacularly. "Shameless! I must go pray! I must cleanse my eyes of this... this visual corruption!"
But before Cassian could execute his hasty, deeply embarrassed retreat, the temperature in the patisserie plummeted.
The warm, sugary air crystallized. Frost began to rapidly creep across the surface of the wrought-iron table, snaking up the legs of Cassian's silver boots.
Duke Kaelus von Nacht had not missed a single fraction of a second of the interaction.
The Archduke of the North slowly turned his head.
His glowing violet eyes locked onto the blushing twelve-year-old Paladin with an expression of such pure, homicidal fatherly rage that the surrounding bakers actually threw themselves onto the floor in terror.
Kaelus had seen the boy stare at his daughter. He had seen the blush, the way the boy's eyes widened.
The infamous, bottomless vinegar jar inside the Reaper's soul violently exploded.
