The first sign was not dramatic. There was no grand confession.
No secret girlfriend discovered hidden away in photographs.
No whispered name exchanged over dinner. It began with a shirt.
Aenys Blackfyre bought a new shirt. Then another. Then five more.
Daemon noticed immediately.
A father always noticed. Especially a father like him. Especially when the son in question was Aenys.
For years, Aenys had existed like a ghost wandering through the halls of Blackfyre Manor.
Quiet. Polite. Painfully withdrawn.
The boy carried heartbreak the way old soldiers carried scars.
Invisible to strangers. Obvious to those who loved him.
The betrayals he had suffered in his youth had carved wounds deeper than anyone realized.
Girls who laughed at him. Girls who lied to him. Girls who made promises only to disappear. Girls who replaced him without hesitation.
Each one had taken something.
Trust. Hope. Confidence.
By sixteen he had stopped trying. By eighteen he refused to date entirely. By twenty he seemed almost resigned to loneliness.
Daemon had watched it happen. Powerless.
And there were few things Daemon Blackfyre hated more than powerlessness.
Then suddenly— Everything changed.
The transformation arrived quietly. Yet once noticed, it became impossible to ignore.
Aenys smiled more.
He lingered longer at breakfast. He spent less time hiding in his room. The dark circles beneath his eyes began to fade.
The boy even started exercising. Voluntarily.
Daemon nearly dropped his coffee the first time he witnessed it. Weeks passed.
The mystery only deepened. New colognes appeared. Expensive ones.
Subtle. Elegant. Aenys never cared about such things before.
He purchased matching rings. Coordinated outfits. Carefully chosen colors. Everything seemed deliberate. Intentional.
As though someone had suddenly become worth impressing. Daemon watched.
Then watched some more. Then watched even harder. Like a suspicious dragon guarding treasure.
Finally one evening he cornered his son in the library. "Aenys."
His son immediately looked nervous. Which confirmed everything.
Interesting. Very interesting.
"Father." "Who is she?."
Aenys nearly choked. The silence that followed could have fed kingdoms.
Daemon folded his arms. Aenys stared at a bookshelf.
Neither moved. Neither surrendered.
Father and son. Blackfyres.
Stubbornness ran through the bloodline. Unfortunately for Aenys— Daemon invented stubbornness.
The young man sighed. Defeated.
Slowly he reached into his pocket. Retrieved his phone.
Unlocked it. And handed it over.
Daemon accepted it carefully. His gaze dropped toward the screen.
A group laboratory photograph.
University students. White coats. Protective goggles. Bright smiles.
Then—
Aenys zoomed in.
Everything stopped.
Daemon stared. And stared.
And continued staring.
The girl stood among her classmates.
Yet somehow she eclipsed every single person surrounding her.
The photograph itself seemed to bend toward her existence.
Not because she was trying to draw attention.
But because some people simply possessed that effect.
She looked alive. Radiant. Bright.
Reminded of the beauty expensive dolls he bought for his two daughters back then.
Like spring after an endless winter.
Daemon looked toward his son.
Aenys was blushing.
Actually blushing.
His usually reserved son appeared as though someone had caught him committing a crime.
Gods.
The boy was hopeless.
Hopelessly in love.
Aenys immediately smiled. A real smile.
The kind Daemon had not seen since childhood.
And somehow that smile affected him more than the photograph itself.
Because suddenly everything made sense.
The new clothes.
The gym.
The confidence.
The hope.
The future.
The girl had not simply attracted Aenys.
She had resurrected him.
Daemon stared again at her picture in his son's Phone, {{user}}⎯her name, the boy was head over heels for her, he even made her pictures his devices wallpapers screens.
Now his world turned upside down.
Not because it's new for him, but sh
But because Daemon wants her for himself.