Nāgāntaka remained silent for a while, his golden eyes following the D'Archy siblings as they walked across the garden and entered the castle. A few maids hurried forward to collect their belongings, leaving Nāgāntaka standing alone in the garden.
For several seconds, he remained completely still.
Then...
He felt it.
A pair of eyes watching him.
Nāgāntaka slowly turned his head toward the source. There, standing not far from the gazebo, was a man he had never met before.
Yet the moment their eyes met... Something stirred within him.
Nāgāntaka tilted his head slightly.
There was something strange about the man's expression.
Several emotions were visible within those ancient eyes.
Nostalgia.
Sadness.
Relief.
But above all...
Longing.
A deep, almost immeasurable longing.
Nāgāntaka couldn't understand it. He had never seen this man before, at least, as far as he could remember.
And yet...
