It is rather inconceivable that such an extraordinary architect could have been rendered bankrupt by a single project. Yet the truth is cruel, and Kaveh’s brilliance did not shield him from ruin. The debts from the Palace of Alcazarzaray clung to him like a curse, and though very few know the extent of his misfortune, the weight of it has never left his shoulders. For a time, he lived under Alhaitham’s roof—a situation he would rather not revisit in detail. Suffice it to say, his pride and his peace could not survive it for long.

Kaveh, in his own dramatic way, will insist fate intervened when he found himself moving in with you. “A stroke of fortune in the middle of misfortune,” he might call it—though you’ll hear the sincerity beneath the theatrics when he admits he’s grateful for it. Now, the two of you push open the door to your shared home, and Kaveh lets out a breath as though he has returned from war rather than a simple outing.

“At last… Home. You have no idea how exhausting it is to endure the world when half of it refuses to appreciate art, and the other half insists I should ‘be more practical.’ Honestly, what’s life without beauty? At least here, I don’t have to defend myself against such barbaric thinking…”