"Dragons?"
"Yes, you heard well."
The quiet hum of the afternoon hung in the air, punctuated only by the soft flick of pages turning beneath Ruby's careful fingertips. Dust floated in lazy spirals beneath the light slicing through Helena's private library's tall windows. Every inch of the room seemed soaked in silence, the kind born from too many forgotten books and secrets that never quite settled.
Ruby's gaze flicked up, hesitant. Her lashes trembled as though uncertain if what she heard was meant to be a joke. "Dragons… Dragons…." She echoed the word like a child testing the weight of a curse on her tongue. Her voice cracked the stillness like a pebble tossed into still water.
Her brows drew together, confusion knitting between them as though she could sew sense from what had just been spoken. The corner of her mouth twitched, caught between disbelief and politeness, unsure which side would win. "No. I've never heard of such a thing."
