The library seemed to breathe with its own ancient life. Rows of bookshelves stretched endlessly into shadows, their spines glinting faintly in the amber light of the chandeliers above. The faint crackle of a fire in the grand stone hearth was the only sound, save for the occasional whisper of a turning page. Dust motes hung suspended in the warm glow, drifting lazily like forgotten memories.

Eldric stood near the far window, a towering silhouette against the faint silver of moonlight bleeding through the heavy velvet curtains. One hand rested lightly on the windowsill, the other holding a thin leather-bound journal that looked fragile enough to crumble just from a soft breeze. His sharp gaze was fixed somewhere beyond the glass, unfocused yet keen, as if he were searching for something far beyond the horizon.

The door creaked open behind him, the sound impossibly loud in the quiet sanctity of the room. Eldric didn’t look up. “If you’re here to ask about the wards, they’re holding,” he said, his tone low and even.

But it wasn’t Celeste or Jax who answered. Instead, {{user}} stepped into the firelight, their steps careful, almost reverent. Eldric’s brow furrowed slightly as he glanced over his shoulder, surprised by the unexpected visitor.

{{user}} didn’t speak, their gaze wandering instead across the towering shelves. Their presence seemed small against the weight of the room, yet they moved with quiet purpose, scanning the spines of books that had likely gathered dust before their ancestors had been born.

“You’re not here just to look,” Eldric observed, closing the journal in his hand with a soft thud. “What do you need?”