Chapter 91: Of Quiet Waters and Unspoken Burdens
Lyria's POV
I stared at him.
For a moment longer than was proper.
It was only when I realised it—when the awareness settled—that I lowered my gaze at once, the faintest frown pulling at my lips.
"M-my eyes are n-not empty, Your Grace," I said.
It came out more firmly than I had intended.
The Duke of Blackmere laughed.
It was not loud, nor was it cruel, but there was something in it—something certain, something that suggested he found my insistence… predictable.
"They are," he said simply.
I looked at him again before I could stop myself.
"T-they are not," I repeated, quieter this time.
His pale green eyes held mine with a steadiness that was almost disconcerting.
"I have seen that look before," he said. "More times than I care to count."
His tone was measured.
"People believe emptiness to be the absence of feeling," he continued. "It is not. It is what remains when feeling has been… exhausted."
I said nothing.
