"You refused because?"
Frederik gave him a flat look. "Because nothing important changes if he leaves a hidden mark on me."
Gregoris did not immediately answer.
Which, from him, usually meant the matter had become interesting enough to be handled carefully.
Frederik, already irritated by his own thoughts, continued before his father could say something too accurate. "He wanted to do it from the moment he had his first heat."
Gregoris's silver eyes rested on him without visible surprise. "Yes."
That, more than anything, was annoying.
Frederik looked at him flatly. "You say that like it was obvious."
"It was."
Frederik exhaled quietly through his nose and folded his arms tighter. The office remained dim around them, dark displays and pale ether lines making the command wing look less like administration and more like a controlled threat in architectural form. Gregoris, leaning only slightly against the desk, looked exactly at home in it.
