Kael stood beneath the old arch near the eastern gates, watching the sun filter through iron latticework.
He adjusted his collar again.
Stiff. Too tight.
The long coat fell to his knees, dark navy with silver trim—formal. Too formal. It had taken him hours to choose it, after poring through every book he could find on dates, social etiquette, and noble behavior.
He looked like he was heading to a funeral. Or worse… a royal negotiation.
Selene arrived five minutes late. Not out of disrespect—Kael could tell by the way she walked. It was deliberate. Measured. Like she'd wanted to see if he'd wait.
She wore a high-collared coat, cinched at the waist, dark green, elegant. Her hair was up. No guards. No friends. Just her.
She stopped a few steps away, took one look at him, and blinked.
Then she laughed.
Not a snide chuckle. Not her usual polite amusement.
A real laugh. From the gut. Light, sharp, and unrestrained.
Kael stiffened.
Selene tried to bite it back, covering her mouth with the back of her glove. "I'm sorry. It's just—what are you wearing?"
"…Formal attire."
"For a banquet, maybe. Are you here to walk or deliver a state address?"
He looked down at the high-buttoned coat, then back at her. "The book said—"
Selene lost it again. "Oh no. You read a book?"
"I read several, actually."
She laughed harder.
Something flickered in her eyes then—something real. A spark that hadn't lived there inside the Academy walls.
Kael looked away, a touch embarrassed. "You said walk and tea. I didn't know what the code was."
Selene sighed, eyes glinting. "Come on. You're changing. I'm picking the outfit."
"What?"
"You want this to be a real outing? Rule one—don't look like my bodyguard. Or my grandfather."
He hesitated.
Then followed.
Thirty minutes later, Kael stepped out of the tailor's shop wearing charcoal-gray slacks, a loose collarless shirt of soft cream linen, and a fitted vest that didn't choke the life out of him.
Selene circled him once, appraising.
"Hm. You look… passable."
"That's an upgrade."
She shrugged, a smirk playing at her lips. "I reward progress."
They walked without urgency, down paths carved between open hills, just outside the Academy wards. It was quiet here—just the sound of gravel and wind.
Kael didn't speak at first. He was measuring the silence.
Then:
"I know it was you."
Selene glanced sideways. "You'll need to narrow that down."
"At the duel. The whisper. The healing."
He looked straight ahead. "It was your voice."
She didn't answer right away. Then, softly:
"I didn't think you'd remember."
"I did."
"…So this isn't a date, is it?" she asked, her tone unreadable. "It's a debt."
Kael shook his head. "No. That's the thing. I didn't ask for your help. But I needed it."
"And you think a gift and a walk make it even?"
"I think," Kael said slowly, "that this is more than repayment. It's a start. Of something else."
Selene looked at him, curious now. Guarded.
He kept his voice steady. "I don't want this to be just gratitude or obligation. That's… not fair to you. Or me."
"And what is it, then?"
"I'm not sure," Kael admitted. "But I know it's not a game. I want to know if I like you—not just the person who saved my life. And if you'd ever feel the same."
She stopped walking.
He stopped with her.
"…You do know I'm engaged," she said, voice low.
"I know it's political," Kael replied. "You don't look at Lucien the way someone should look at the person they're meant to love. And he doesn't look at you that way either."
Selene didn't deny it.
She just studied him. Something different flickering in her eyes now—less guarded. More human.
"And if I never do feel that way?" she asked.
"Then I'll know. And I'll move on."
"…You're very strange," she murmured.
"I get that a lot."
They kept walking.
Not as strangers. Not yet as something more.
But between gravel and sky, wind and silence, two people stepped—just a little—closer.