"He wanted to join, but I heard Father didn't want him to go to war," Edward said as he put a chunk of meat into his mouth.

"Poor fellow," he continued after chewing.

"He thought he could join just because he reached the swordmaster stage." Edward laughed lightly at that.

Salena also let out a soft chuckle as they continued eating.

The mood around the table felt easy and warm.

After a while, Salena finished her meal first.

She wiped her lips gently and washed her hands in the bowl prepared beside the table.

She sat back quietly, watching Edward as he continued to eat.

Edward, on the other hand, focused only on the meat.

The table had many kinds of food, vegetables and sauces arranged neatly, but he ignored all of them.

One by one, he finished every piece of meat on the plates.

When he was done, he washed his hands and dried them with a clean towel.

Then his eyes moved to the ice cream placed at the side of the table.

He picked up a spoon, scooped some ice cream, and put it into his mouth.

A small smile appeared on his face.

He leaned back against his chair, looking relaxed.

"The food was really good," he said simply.

Salena smiled at him.

She rested her chin on her hand and watched him quietly, the soft light of the room reflecting in her eyes.

As Edward continued to eat the ice cream, Salena spoke softly, "Edward, what do you want to do?"

Edward's eyes moved from the ice cream to her face.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean when you reach swordmaster," she said.

"Oh, then?" Edward replied.

He took another spoon and ate it without much thought. "I will return home."

When she heard this, Salena's eyes narrowed slightly.

She looked thoughtful, and there was also a bit of doubt on her face.

She did not speak right away.

"Don't you have any dreams?" she asked after a moment.

"With your talent, you could do anything. And if it wasn't for your brother's unmatched talent, you would have been the youngest swordmaster in the empire."

Edward slowed down. He did not take the next spoon.

She paused, then closed her eyes as she spoke, her voice soft and careful.

"Don't you ever feel pushed down by your brother's shadow?"

She said it with her eyes closed, not noticing anything strange.

If she had opened them, she would have seen his reaction.

Edward's spoon stopped in midair.

The faint smile on his face disappeared, and in that same moment, his eyes turned cold.

The easy mood around him was gone, as if it had never been there.

For a short time, he said nothing.

Then he slowly placed the spoon back into the bowl and looked at her.

"Why do you say these things all of a sudden?" he asked.

Salena opened her eyes when she heard his words.

The moment she saw his face, her breath caught.

The calm feeling from before was gone.

Edward looked distant, and his eyes were cold.

She straightened in her seat without thinking.

She could tell something was wrong.

Still, there was a reason she had asked these questions.

It was also the reason she had come all the way from her father's estate to the capital just to meet him.

This was not idle talk for her.

"I mean…" Salena said slowly, choosing her words with care. "Don't you feel pushed down by your brother's shadow?"

She looked at him closely now.

"You train every day. You work harder than most people. But whenever others see you, they don't call you Edward D. Zenithara. They call you Sir Vivian's brother."

Her fingers tightened on her lap. She did not stop.

"And your father," she continued, her voice lower, "he already announced your elder brother as the official heir. He didn't wait for you to grow up. He didn't wait for you to choose your own path."

Salena lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Don't you feel it's unfair?" she asked softly. "Don't you ever feel wronged?"

As she continued to speak, Edward's expression darkened little by little.

The calm on his face slowly faded, replaced by something heavy and sharp.

Still, he did not stop her. He said nothing and let her continue.

Salena noticed the change. She saw it clearly.

But she could not stop now. What she was saying was tied to the future, their future.

"With your talent and your mind," she said carefully, "you could compete for the throne of the Zenithara duchy. You are not lacking in anything."

As those words left her mouth, memories surfaced in her mind.

Before coming to the capital, she had been urgently summoned by her father.

She remembered walking into the audience chamber.

The main officials of the family were already there, standing on both sides.

At the center, seated on the throne, was her father.

Count Zalan Harencross.

He had blond hair and blue eyes, and his looks were above average, but what stood out more was his presence.

His aura was heavy and sharp, the aura of a mid-stage swordmaster.

It pressed down on the room without him saying a word.

He was the patriarch of the Harencross family, and the stepbrother of the queen of the empire.

Salena had walked forward, knelt on one knee, and lowered her head.

"Father," she had said, " did you call for me?"

He had looked down at her with cold eyes and spoken in a flat voice.

"I heard," he said, "that you met the youngest son of the Zenithara house."

The moment she heard his words, a shiver ran down her spine.

"i.i..i…?" Salena stammered. "I met him in the palace… three years ago. That was all."

Sweat appeared on her forehead. Since childhood, she had feared her father.

She knew very well that she had no real standing in the family.

Her mother had once told her that if she wanted to live in peace, she must listen to her father and do whatever he asked.

So hearing this from him felt like thunder striking her head.

Count Zalan looked at her coldly.

"As a marriage choice, he is not bad for you," he said.

The moment those words left his mouth, Salena's eyes brightened.

Hope rose in her chest. Still, she did not dare to look up. She remained kneeling and waited.

Then his voice continued.

"However," he said calmly, "he does not have the right to succeed the current duke.

He will always remain a servant to his brother when the title passes."

Those words crushed the happiness she had just felt.

Salena's fingers tightened against the floor.

She knew one thing clearly about Edward.

He cared deeply for his brother.

Even in the short time she had spent with him, she had seen it.

The respect, the trust, the pride, Edward held his brother above everything.

Despair filled her heart as Count Zalan spoke the next words.

"If you can convince him to fight for the throne of the Zenithara duchy," he said, "then I will approve your marriage with him."

Salena's breath shook.

"If not," he continued without emotion, "the eldest son of the Arya Empire's duke will also be a suitable match for you."

The room had gone silent.

Salena lowered her head even more.

She understood then why she had been summoned.

And she understood why she had come to the capital to meet Edward.

It was not just about love.

It was about a choice she was being forced to make.

Salena snapped back to the present as the memory faded.

She took a breath and spoke, her voice careful.

"If you want to fight for the throne—"

She stopped.

Not because of a sound. Not because he spoke.

She stopped because of Edward's eyes.

The warmth that had always been there was gone.

When she first brought up this topic, his eyes had turned cold.

But now, as she continued, something else appeared in them. Disdain.

The moment she saw it, her heart ached. It felt as if many small needles were piercing it at once.

Her voice shook as she tried to speak again.

"Ed…?"

He did not look away.

"No," Edward said quietly. "No, continue."

He leaned back slightly in his chair. His hands were clenched, though he did not seem to notice.

"Let me see," he went on, "how big of a mistake I made."

His voice trembled. There was pain in it, raw and real.

But the look in his eyes only grew colder, the disdain deepening with every second.

"You can continue," he said again.

The air between them felt heavy, almost hard to breathe in.

"Ed… I didn't mean it l-like that…" Salena's voice shook as she tried to explain.

Her words came out broken, uneven. Her eyes wavered, shining as if tears would fall at any moment.

"I just… w-wanted… to be with… you—"

She was cut off.

"I asked you to continue what you were saying!!"

Edward's voice rose sharply. It was louder than before, rough and strained.

His eyes turned bloodshot from his suppressed emotions.

The room felt smaller.

Salena flinched at his tone. Her shoulders trembled, and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

She had never heard him speak like this. Not once.

"I—I'm sorry," she whispered. "Please, just listen—"

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