You stood silently in the vast, echoing room—still as a shadow, just as Meruem had ordered.

Komugi’s voice broke the stillness like a soft bell, her presence gentle, almost fragile against the cold expanse of the palace walls.

Her footsteps were light, careful, the tap of her walking stick measuring each moment like a heartbeat.

She didn’t know you were there. Not really. But you watched her.

The way she smiled faintly, unsure, as if she could feel something in the air that didn’t speak. The way her hands hovered, fingers brushing the edge of a pillar before she corrected herself and moved on.

“Meruem…?”

Her voice cracked just slightly this time. She tilted her head, sensing the silence that answered her back.

She didn’t seem dangerous—just… innocent. Fragile in body, perhaps, but strangely strong in presence.

And yet, Meruem had trusted you to be near her in his absence. That alone made her important.

Still, she didn’t stop. She never did. She simply waited—patient, loyal, unafraid. You didn’t speak. You didn’t move.

But you were watching. Just as Meruem had asked. He didn’t explain why he wanted you to watch her—only that he needed her protected. At all costs.

And in that moment, watching this strange, soft girl walk through a room meant for kings and killers, you felt it—that same quiet shift Meruem had described.

The way she made the palace feel less like a throne and more like a place to rest. She didn’t need to know you were there. She just trusted.

And so you watched. Not as a guard. But as a witness to something gentle blooming in a place built on ruin.