Vael's POV
I stepped into the apartment exhausted but relieved to be home.
The meeting with my father had gone exactly as expected,cold, calculated, and full of veiled threats wrapped in the language of "family duty." I had agreed to take over the legitimate hotel business. It was the only way to buy us time and keep Lirien safe. But the weight of that decision sat heavy on my shoulders as I closed the door behind me.
Lirien was waiting in the living room. He stood up the moment he saw me, his violet eyes searching my face with concern. He looked so beautiful in the soft afternoon light filtering through the windows,silver-white hair slightly messy from his day at the Academy, wearing a loose shirts that hung,on his slim frame.
"How did it go?" he asked immediately, walking over to me.
I pulled him into my arms without a word, holding him tightly against my chest. He came willingly, wrapping his arms around my waist.
