Back at Kael's sanctuary—a small apartment above a forgotten library—they allowed themselves a moment of vulnerability. The room smelled of parchment and faint smoke, filled with relics and artifacts that whispered of a long-forgotten history.Kael confessed the fragments of his past: childhood stolen by political enemies, betrayal by someone he once trusted, a lifetime running from shadows. And through it all, one confession remained unspoken until now: he loved Althea.
Althea listened, heart aching with empathy and desire. "Then we face it together," she said. "Whatever comes, I'm with you."
Their love deepened that night, an intertwining of trust, vulnerability, and fiery passion, though outside, shadows still lurked. Kael's enemies were not idle, and the Nightveil's reach was greater than they realized.