Every step felt heavier than the last, weighed down by more than exhaustion. This wasn't the same trial he had faced against Airi's siblings. This time, the test came from her father, the Patriarch himself.
Parents were always the harder trial. Lovers could endure each other's flaws, but facing the judgment of a parent… that was a battlefield of its own. And for the first time in a long while, Zeyn's heart pounded harder than any duel.
Tonight's summons was personal, delivered right after clashing with his son.
"Babe, are you okay?" Airi asked softly, still clinging to his arm.
"...Are you?" he countered.
She lowered her gaze. "I don't know. For the first time in my life… I'm afraid to face Father."
Hand in hand, their grip unsteady yet desperate. They walked on, holding each other up step by step.
Two guards bowed deeply as they reached the towering double doors, opening them with a reverence that spoke of the man waiting inside.
