The first thing Ye Jing-e noticed was not the silence.
It was the absence of something he could not name.
He stood in the courtyard, spear resting lightly against his shoulder, watching the morning unfold the way it always did. Soldiers moved in steady rhythm. Servants passed quietly along the stone paths. The banners above fluttered in the same direction they always had.
Everything was in place.
Everything was correct.
And yet—
Something was missing.
His grip tightened slightly on the spear.
"I've forgotten something."
The thought came without warning.
Sharp.
Unwelcome.
He frowned.
No.
That wasn't right.
He would know if he had forgotten something important.
He was not careless.
Not weak.
His memory had always been precise.
Reliable.
Controlled.
So why—
His gaze shifted.
Across the courtyard.
To her.
Chang Seol.
