The morning halls of the Sapphire Palace were quiet.
Livar wandered them barefoot, small fingers brushing against polished stone, eyes calm but distant.
He wasn't exploring.
He was searching.
He was hungry.
"Come to me if you're hungry," the woman had said.
So he did.
He turned left.
Then right.
Then left again.
And somehow, he was back where he started.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until finally—
"You've walked past that same plant three times," a voice called behind him.
Livar turned his head.
It was the girl with the scar.
The one who had sat by the window days ago.
Liora Kestra.
She stepped out of the hallway corner and walked beside him.
"Are you lost?" she asked.
He didn't respond.
"You are."
Still nothing.
"You're trying to find something, but clearly not succeeding."
He kept walking.
She followed.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Excuse me?"
He pointed to the same corner they'd now passed five times.
"Then prove it."
Her mouth fell open slightly.
Then she huffed.
"Fine. I will."
She spun around and marched confidently down a hallway.
Livar didn't move.
She turned back.
"Well? You coming?"
He shrugged.
Then followed.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the servant's wing.
Livar's face didn't change.
He didn't thank her.
He just walked past her, into the small stone kitchen where a familiar voice said:
"Ah! There you are. Hungry?"
He nodded.
She smiled.
He sat down.
And the food appeared without magic.
Behind him, Liora leaned against the doorframe.
She watched him eat without saying a word.
And for some reason…
She didn't leave.
End of Chapter 21 – The Princess and the Silence