The evening air felt cooler when I stepped out of the cottage.
For a brief moment, the warmth of the hearth clung to my skin, the scent of herbs still lingering in my clothes, as though the house itself did not want to let me go.
The door closed softly behind me.
Not a creak. Not a slam.
Just a quiet, deliberate sound.
Like a secret being sealed.
The guards straightened almost immediately when they saw me, tension easing from their shoulders.
Maribel hurried forward first.
"Already?" she asked, brows knitting together. "You are finished?"
I blinked at her. "What do you mean, already?"
She stared at me like I had said something absurd. "Seraphina, you were only inside for five minutes."
I stopped walking.
"Five minutes?"
"Yes," she said slowly. "Perhaps less."
That is not possible.
I was certain—
No.
I was absolutely certain it had been longer.
At least twenty minutes. Perhaps more.
We spoke. We drank tea. We discussed the emerald. The faes. The stone.
