The royal hunting grounds were unlike anything Kira remembered from her childhood.
The imperial camp had transformed the vast forest into a temporary city. Hundreds of white tents stretched across the open meadows, each marked with the crest of its noble family. Servants hurried between rows carrying luggage, saddles, and hunting equipment while soldiers patrolled the perimeter with disciplined precision. The distant sounds of horses, conversation, and hammering blended together beneath the towering pines, creating an atmosphere that felt less like a celebration and more like an army preparing for war.
House Solis's servants had only just begun unloading their belongings when Lord Solis called Lyra to accompany him to greet several ministers who had already arrived.
He never looked at Kira.
"You know your duties," was all he said before walking away.
Kira watched them disappear into the growing crowd before quietly turning in the opposite direction.
She wandered through the outer paths of the imperial camp at an unhurried pace, appearing no different from any other noblewoman admiring the scenery. In reality, her attention never lingered on the extravagant tents or the elegantly dressed guests. She was studying the people.
Military commanders. Royal physicians. Senior ministers.
Merchants entrusted with supplying the imperial household. Every face was another piece on the board.
She had almost completed one circuit around the central clearing when the movement of nearby guards caught her attention.
Without a word being spoken, the soldiers surrounding a wide pathway straightened.
Servants immediately stepped aside. Conversations softened. Someone important was approaching.
Kira stepped beneath the shade of an old pine tree, neither moving closer nor pretending to leave. A procession emerged between the tents.
There were no elaborate banners announcing its arrival. No heralds.
Only disciplined guards dressed in black armor bearing the silver wolf of House Sterling.
At their center walked Gideon Sterling.
This was the first time Kira had seen him since her rebirth.
In her previous life, their paths had crossed only a handful of times. He had always been a distant figure moving through court politics with frightening efficiency, someone whose victories became history before most people realized a battle had even begun. Seeing him now...
She understood why the capital feared him.
He wasn't extraordinarily tall, nor did he carry himself with theatrical arrogance like many young nobles. His presence came from something quieter. Absolute control. Every step was measured. Every movement economical. Even surrounded by guards, he somehow seemed completely alone. His expression revealed nothing. Not confidence. Not boredom. Certainly not pride.
He simply walked as though the opinions of everyone around him held no weight whatsoever.
Kira's gaze moved lower.
Black leather gloves covered both of his hands despite the pleasant weather. Interesting. Most nobles had abandoned gloves the moment they entered camp. He hadn't. She continued watching.
His pace remained steady, yet after several minutes she noticed something so subtle most people would have missed it.
His breathing. Not labored. Not enough to draw concern. But fractionally heavier than it should have been after such a short walk across level ground.
If she hadn't spent years training herself to notice the smallest inconsistencies, she would never have seen it.
Her attention shifted again. No one stood within arm's reach of him. Not even his own guards.
The formation remained precise, leaving a careful pocket of empty space around the Grand Duke wherever he moved.
At first glance it appeared to be respect.
Looking closer...
It resembled habit.
A habit developed over years.
Before she could consider the reason, another figure quietly approached Gideon's side.
An elderly physician dressed in dark blue robes.
The man bowed his head without interrupting the conversation Gideon was having with a military commander. With practiced familiarity, he removed a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve and offered it forward.
Gideon accepted it without looking.
He uncorked the bottle, swallowed its contents in a single motion, and returned it. The entire exchange lasted only seconds.
So natural that most nearby nobles continued their own conversations without noticing.
Kira did. Her eyes remained fixed on the physician.
A short while later, as Gideon continued inspecting the imperial camp, the physician discreetly checked the position of the sun before quietly recording something inside a small notebook.
Time.
He was measuring the intervals. Not giving medicine when symptoms appeared. Giving medicine according to a schedule.
Kira's thoughts moved quickly. He's taking it far too often. She remembered fragments from her previous life.
Gideon's illness had never been widely discussed, but it had never confined him like this either. He had led military campaigns, attended lengthy court sessions, and traveled between provinces without anyone mentioning frequent medication.
Yet today...
His physician hadn't left his side for more than a few minutes. That wasn't treatment. It was maintenance.
Something was deteriorating. Faster than it should. A quiet unease settled in her chest. Had history changed?
Or...
Had no one noticed before?
Her gaze drifted briefly toward the physician's medicine pouch. It wasn't particularly large. Meaning each bottle contained only a small amount.
Enough for frequent doses. Not long-term relief. Whatever medicine Gideon relied upon... It was buying him time. Not curing him.
Kira found herself replaying Rowan's words. Someone is buying every Starfrost Crystal.
The thought connected almost instinctively.
Starfrost Crystals. Frequent medication. A disease progressing beyond expectation. She didn't yet know how the pieces fit together.
But they belonged to the same puzzle.
Without realizing it, she had stopped observing Gideon himself.
Her eyes remained on the small porcelain bottle resting once more inside the physician's sleeve.
What exactly are you taking...?
Several paces away, Gideon continued speaking with the Commander of the Imperial Guard, though his attention had quietly shifted elsewhere.
Years of surviving both battlefields and court politics had sharpened one particular instinct.
He always knew when someone was watching him.
Most people stared for the same reasons.
Fear. Curiosity. Admiration. Occasionally hatred.
The young ladies attending the hunt were rarely more subtle. Some looked at him only long enough to blush before lowering their heads. Others tried not to look at all while failing spectacularly.
It had become predictable. Today... One pair of eyes behaved differently. Without interrupting the commander's report, Gideon allowed his gaze to drift across the gathering.
He found her almost immediately. A young woman standing beneath a pine tree. Plainly dressed compared to the surrounding noble ladies.
Perfectly still. She wasn't watching his face. Nor the silver wolf embroidered upon his robes. She wasn't studying the soldiers surrounding him either. Her attention rested somewhere else entirely.
Gideon's eyes followed her line of sight. The medicine bottle. The realization made him pause almost imperceptibly.
Interesting. Most people noticed the Grand Duke.
She had noticed the medicine. His physician finished recording another note before quietly returning the notebook to his sleeve.
The young woman continued observing the bottle for another heartbeat before calmly looking away, as though she had already learned what she came to see.
She neither approached him nor attempted to attract his attention.
Instead, she disappeared into the crowd with the same quiet ease as someone who had never intended to be remembered.
The commander finally finished his report.
Gideon answered automatically, but a small part of his mind remained elsewhere. He had spent weeks searching for someone intelligent enough to hide from him.
Now... He found himself unexpectedly curious about a woman who had looked everywhere...
Except at him.