Aira led him through the side corridor, her posture calm but clipped. Kieran followed in silence, unsure if it was her presence or the sudden thunderstorm rolling in that made the air feel charged.
They stopped in a quiet garden room with arched windows and a glass ceiling, washed in the gray light of the approaching rain. The room was warm, with the scent of old books and lavender clinging to the air. Aira gestured toward the sofa without sitting herself.
Kieran took the hint and remained standing too.
"You came here to cancel the engagement," she said plainly, without accusation. "Didn't you?"
There was no anger in her voice. No drama. Just certainty.
Kieran blinked. "I did."
Her gaze didn't waver. "You don't have to explain. I understand. I never planned on marrying a stranger either."
He exhaled, half in relief and half in something harder to define.
"But something changed," he admitted, voice quieter now. "A week ago, I saw a girl on the street. She saved someone's life with nothing but a scrap of fabric and a terrifying amount of calm. She didn't look around for thanks. She just walked away like it was nothing. That girl…" He paused. "I haven't stopped thinking about her."
Aira tilted her head slightly. Her expression unreadable.
"I didn't know her name," he went on. "Didn't know where she came from. But today, when your parents said you were Aira Laurent, something clicked."
Aira's throat tightened.
She hadn't expected honesty from him. And certainly not this kind of raw admission.
He looked up, eyes piercing. "So, no. I'm not here to cancel the engagement anymore."
That made her blink.
"I came to cancel it," he said, stepping a little closer, "because I thought it was a mistake. But if you're her—if you're that girl—then maybe it isn't."
Aira looked at him for a long time. Longer than was polite. The silence stretched.
Then she turned away, walking to the far window.
"You shouldn't say things like that, Mr. Lockhart," she said softly, almost absently. "You don't know me. Not really. That girl you saw… she was just doing what needed to be done."
"I want to know her," he said simply.
She turned back to face him, slowly.
For a moment, her guard slipped. Just enough for him to glimpse something underneath—loneliness, maybe. Weariness. A sharp, endless depth.
"People always say that," she murmured. "Until they learn the whole truth."
"And if I want to learn it?" he asked.
Her eyes darkened slightly. "Then I hope you're patient, Kieran Lockhart. Because I'm not easy. And I don't bend well."
He offered a slow, amused smile. "Good. I don't fall for easy things."
That made her pause. A flicker of something—surprise, maybe—lit her features. But it vanished quickly.
"Your gifts were unnecessary," she said, changing the subject with practiced elegance.
"They weren't for the Aira Laurent you are now," he replied. "They were for the girl I thought I wouldn't meet again."
Aira's breath caught for just a moment. Barely.
But he noticed.
"You should get going," she said finally. "Before my brothers return. They're… protective."
Kieran smirked. "I've handled worse."
"You haven't met Evander yet."
He raised an eyebrow. "Challenge accepted."
She nearly smiled.
Nearly.
But then she turned away again, and the conversation dissolved into a silence that held too much meaning.
When Kieran finally left the estate, the storm broke over the city. He didn't mind. His thoughts were louder than thunder.
In his heart, a question was already forming.
What would it take to make her smile—really smile—for him?
And more importantly…
Was she already the person he'd been waiting for all along?