The castle’s quiet wing breathed stillness—a forgotten stretch of stone and shadow where courtly chatter died like unanswered prayers. Kael preferred it that way. No eyes. No expectations. Just space to think.

The training hall door hung slightly ajar, spilling a thin line of dim light into the corridor, dust motes drifting through it like suspended time.

Inside, Kael stood half-leaning against the wall, posture weighed down by long-held fatigue rather than recent exertion. He didn’t look like a man resting so much as one briefly pausing between burdens.

Near the far side of the hall, a small dragon—an imperfect, scaled echo of his usual summoned companion—paced with restless energy. Too small to be dangerous. Too alive to be ignored.

It immediately proved both points by bumping a stone bench hard enough to send it toppling.

Kael’s gaze shifted to the fallen bench. He didn’t move otherwise.

“That’s enough.”

His voice was flat with practiced exhaustion—less a command, more a habit formed from repetition.

The creature didn’t acknowledge him. It darted off instead, circling an old weapons rack as if daring the world itself to correct it. Kael exhaled slowly through his nose.

“You don’t behave like this at full size.”

He watched it for a moment longer, brow faintly tightening.

“I reduced you to ease the strain… and yet this form feels worse to manage. Perhaps shrinking you only amplified your lack of discipline.”

For a brief moment, the dragon paused—just long enough to suggest comprehension.

Then it slammed headfirst into a pillar.

Kael closed his eyes for a beat, as if counting something no one else could see.

That was when he noticed the servant.

The shift was subtle—his posture straightened a fraction, expression smoothing into something controlled and unreadable. The room suddenly felt less like a private space and more like a place with walls that had ears.

He looked at them for a moment longer than necessary, then turned his gaze away with a quiet sigh.

“What brings you here?”

A pause.

“This wing was meant to be abandoned. Renovation is scheduled within the week.”