[Cassius's Pov]
Two days. It had only been two days.
And yet it felt like an eternity had passed.
What sort of curse was this—that the Emperor of Elarion, feared from sea to sea, could not endure forty-eight hours without a single, small, golden-haired tyrant of his own?
Was I truly this weak without her?
"Papa…"
The soft voice broke through my thoughts.
She was squinting at me with narrowed red eyes—suspicious, searching, like she didn't quite believe I was real yet.
"Hmm?" I hummed, brushing a stray curl away from her cheek.
"Why do you look so pale? Did you not sleep?" She asked, eyes roaming my face, small fingers patting under my eyes. "You look like a panda."
Before I could respond, Theon stepped forward.
"Princess," he said carefully, "His Majesty hasn't slept for two days straight."
Then the fool whispered, as if I couldn't hear him, "He's been practicing his sword like a madman. Nearly broke knights' arms and three dummies. One caught fire."
