He held the lantern and brought his hands over, steadying the thin paper frame between his palms.
Since he was supporting the lantern from below, Stella gently placed her hands beneath his, her fingers brushing his knuckles with a delicacy utterly mismatched to her status as one of the Empire's strongest mages.
The gesture looked oddly intimate, romantic even and the soft glow of the moon garden's lights washed over the two of them, making the moment feel suspended in a pocket of warmth.
"Hold on…" Stella whispered, her voice barely audible under the murmuring crowd.
However, before she could continue, Mynes practically barrel-rolled into the space between them.
She grabbed Azel's shoulder with a firm tug… firm enough that Azel had to bend slightly downward to face her and glared up at Stella with a clenched jaw.
"What are you doing…?" she demanded, her eyes flicking from her mother's hands to Azel's.
