The silence in Seraphina's quarters had changed.

For three years, the silence had been heavy. It had pressed against her ears like deep water. It was the sound of absence.

Tonight, the silence felt different. It felt like a pause before music.

Seraphina stood in front of her mirror. She touched the silver chain around her neck.

Richard's ring still hung there. It always would.

But for the first time, the cold metal didn't burn against her skin.

She remembered Marcus's words from the garden.

Honoring him doesn't mean dying with him.

She looked at her reflection.

The woman in the mirror wasn't the Ice Queen anymore.

Her eyes were bright. Her cheeks held a flush that had nothing to do with rouge.

She was terrified.

Facing the Magistrate had been a battle of wills. She understood battles.

She knew how to fight enemies who wanted to hurt her.

This was different. This was fighting for something she wanted to keep.

She smoothed the fabric of her dress.

It was a deep midnight blue. It was softer than her teaching robes.

It was the color of the sky just before dawn.

"You're stalling," she told her reflection.

She turned away from the mirror.

She grabbed her cloak. She walked out of her rooms before she could talk herself out of it.

The evening air in Luminaris was crisp.

The streets were busy with merchants closing up shop and nobles heading to late dinners.

Seraphina walked with purpose.

She thought about the man she was going to see.

Marcus Aldridge was a contradiction.

He was the brother of a prodigy, yet he had no magical talent.

He was rumored to be a scoundrel, yet he was the kindest man she had ever met.

He saw things other people missed. He saw her.

Richard had taught her what love was supposed to look like.

It was safe. It was warm. It was a partnership.

Marcus made her feel that safety again.

But he also made her feel something else. Something electric.

She turned onto the street leading to the Aldridge townhouse.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. It was a frantic, living rhythm.

She wasn't going to apologize for it. Not anymore.

She reached the front gate. She took a deep breath.

She knocked.

The housekeeper who opened the door looked surprised.

"Professor Ashwood?" the woman asked. She wiped her hands on her apron. "Is there an emergency with Young Master Theodore?"

"No emergency," Seraphina said. She tried to keep her voice steady. "I was hoping to speak with Lord Marcus. Is he available?"

The housekeeper blinked. "Lord Marcus? He's in the sitting room. But he wasn't expecting guests."

"I know," Seraphina said. "I apologize for the intrusion."

The housekeeper stepped back. "Come in, my lady. I'll fetch him."

Seraphina waited in the hallway. She studied a painting of a landscape on the wall. It was a generic pastoral scene.

It felt oddly calming. Normal.

"Professor?"

She turned.

Marcus stood in the doorway of the sitting room.

He wasn't wearing his usual tailored coats. He wore a loose white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He wore simple trousers.

He held a book in one hand. He held a pair of reading glasses in the other.

He looked soft. He looked domestic.

The sight of him hit Seraphina harder than a lightning spell.

This was the man behind the rumors.

"Marcus," she said.

He scrambled to put his glasses in his pocket. He looked flustered.

"Seraphina," he said. "Is everything alright? Did the Ashwoods try something else?"

"The Ashwoods are quiet," she said. "I didn't come about legal matters."

Marcus relaxed slightly.

He gestured into the room. "Please. Come in. Can I get you tea? It might be lukewarm."

"No tea," she said.

She walked into the sitting room. It was cluttered with books.

Papers were scattered across the coffee table. She saw diagrams. She saw lists of names.

It looked like a war room run by a scholar.

"I realized I never properly thanked you," Seraphina said. "For the trial."

Marcus waved a hand.

He leaned against the back of a sofa. "You did the work. I was just the gallery section."

"You were more than that," she said.

She walked closer to him.

The space between them felt charged. The air felt thin.

"The Academy is buzzing," Marcus said quickly. "Everyone is talking about your speech. Theo said you were terrifying. In a good way."

"Theodore is a good student," Seraphina said. She dismissed the topic of her student.

She looked at Marcus.

She looked at his messy hair. She looked at the ink stain on his finger.

She didn't want to talk about students. She didn't want to talk about the trial.

She took another step.

"Marcus," she started. Her voice dropped an octave. "I didn't come here to talk about the past."

Marcus froze.

He saw the look in her eyes. It was the same look she had given the Magistrate.

Determination.

"I need to tell you something," she said. "These past weeks... working with you... I've realized something."

Panic flashed across Marcus's face. It was instantaneous and absolute.

Marcus felt his heart stop.

He knew that look. He had seen it in romantic comedies. He had seen it in the eyes of clients who were about to make a terrible life decision.

She was going to confess.

The First Heroine. The Ice Queen. The A-Rank Mage.

She was going to confess to the background character who was destined to die.

If she confessed, the plot would shatter. Theo's destiny would unravel. The world would burn.

He had to stop it. He had to redirect.

"Speaking of realizing things!" Marcus shouted. His voice cracked.

Seraphina blinked. She stopped mid-step.

"I was just thinking about Theo!" Marcus continued. He spoke very fast. "Have you noticed how tall he's getting? He's really filling out that frame."

Seraphina frowned. "He is seventeen. He is growing. That is normal."

"But his potential!" Marcus waved his arms.

He nearly knocked over a stack of books.

"He's going to be a hero, Seraphina. A real hero. He's brave. He's strong. He has excellent bone structure."

"Marcus," Seraphina said slowly. "Why are we talking about your brother's bones?"

"Because he's the total package!" Marcus insisted.

He was sweating now. "He's the kind of man a woman could really rely on. Someone who can protect the kingdom. Someone with a destiny."

He looked at her with desperate, wide eyes.

"Don't you think he's impressive? Don't you think he's... attractive?"

Seraphina stared at him. Her expression shifted from confusion to something sharper.

"He is my student," she said flatly.

"For now!" Marcus said. "But time passes! People age! In a few years, who knows?"

"I know," Seraphina said. Her voice was ice.

"He's the Child of Destiny," Marcus babbled.

"He's going to save the world. Think about the power couple dynamic! You're strong. He's strong. It makes sense on paper!"

"Stop."

The word wasn't shouted. It was dropped like a heavy stone.

Marcus shut his mouth.

Seraphina crossed her arms.

The soft, domestic atmosphere was gone. The combat instructor was back.

"Theodore is seventeen years old," she said. She enunciated every syllable. "He is a child. I am twenty-eight. I am his teacher."

She looked at Marcus with disbelief.

"Do you think so little of me?" she asked.

"No!" Marcus said. "Of course not! You have high ethical standards!"

"Then why?" she demanded. "Why are you trying to sell your teenage brother to me like a prize horse?"

Marcus opened his mouth. He closed it.

He couldn't say, Because the webnovel aged everyone up.

He couldn't say, Because you're supposed to be his first wife.

He couldn't say, Because I'm terrified I've doomed the planet by being nice to you.

"He's... he's going to be great," Marcus whispered weakly. "In the future."

"I don't live in the future," Seraphina said. "I live now. And right now, I am standing in your living room."

She took a step closer. She invaded his personal space.

"I am not interested in a child, Marcus. I am interested in the man who helped me reclaim my life."

She pointed a finger at his chest.

"I am interested in you."

The words hung in the air.

Marcus felt like he had been punched.

It was a disaster. It was the worst possible outcome.

It was also the best thing anyone had ever said to him.

"You can't be," he said. The words tumbled out. "You're not supposed to be."

Seraphina lowered her hand. Her eyes narrowed.

"Supposed to be?" she repeated. "According to who?"

Marcus backed away until his legs hit the sofa. He sat down heavily.

He ran a hand through his hair. He messed it up even more.

"There's an order to things," he said. He sounded crazy. He knew he sounded crazy. "There are paths people are meant to take. Important paths."

"You sound like the High Priest," Seraphina said. She didn't sound impressed.

"It's not religion," Marcus said. "It's... cause and effect. If you're with me, you're not with... where you need to be."

"And where do I need to be?" she asked.

"Saving the world!" Marcus blurted out. "With the hero! Not... filing paperwork with the life coach!"

Seraphina stared at him. She tilted her head to the side.

She looked at the books on the table. She looked at the frantic energy radiating off him.

"You are afraid," she observed.

"Yes," Marcus admitted. "Terrified."

"You think that if I choose you, something bad will happen."

"Something catastrophic," Marcus said.

"Because of destiny."

"Yes."

Seraphina sighed. It was a long, patient sound.

She walked over to the sofa. She didn't sit. She stood in front of him.

"I don't understand your logic," she said. "I don't understand your obsession with Theodore's future or those confusing things you mentioned the other day. It sounds like madness."

Marcus looked down at his hands. "I know."

"But I know you," she said. "I know you are not mad. I know you are protective."

She reached out. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

The touch was grounding. It was real.

"You are trying to protect me," she said. "Or protect Theodore. Or protect the world. You are taking responsibility for everything."

"Someone has to," Marcus mumbled.

"Not alone," she said.

She removed her hand. She stepped back.

The loss of contact made Marcus wince.

"I am not going to force you," Seraphina said.

Her voice was calm. It was the calm of someone who had made a decision.

"I won't demand explanations you aren't ready to give. I won't ask you to break whatever vow you think you've made to the universe."

Marcus looked up. Hope flared in his chest. "So you understand?"

Seraphina laughed. It was a short, sharp sound.

"Absolutely not," she said.

Marcus slumped.

"I am a grown woman, Marcus," she said. "I know what I want. And I am patient."

She smoothed her skirts. She looked regal in the dimly lit room.

"I will wait," she said. "I will wait for you to stop fighting ghosts. I will wait for you to realize that destiny isn't a set of shackles."

She walked to the door.

She paused with her hand on the latch.

"But do not mistake patience for indifference," she warned.

She looked back at him. Her blue eyes were burning.

"I am not going anywhere. I am going to be at the Academy. I am going to be in your life."

"Seraphina," Marcus pleaded.

"And every time you try to push me toward your brother," she said, "I am going to remind you exactly who I am looking at."

She opened the door.

"Goodnight, Marcus. Try to get some sleep. You look exhausted."

The door clicked shut.

Marcus sat alone in the silence.

The room smelled faintly of her perfume. It smelled like winter flowers and ozone.

He put his head in his hands.

"I failed," he whispered to the empty room.

He looked at his plan on the table. It was a mess of arrows and names.

He had failed to redirect her. He had failed to stop the confession.

He had failed to save the world.

But as he sat there, listening to the echo of her voice, a traitorous thought bloomed in his chest.

It was a warm, golden feeling. It felt like sunshine after a long winter.

She wants me.

He groaned and pulled a pillow over his face.

"I am in so much trouble."

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