(Within the Eternal Garden, Veyr's POV)
For a long moment, Veyr simply stood there, staring at Raymond in utter disbelief, his mind blank as his mouth refused to form words.
The proposal that had just left the Demi-God's lips sounded absurd, unreal even, as though the man were joking or worse, testing him.
He blinked once, then twice, trying to piece together what he had just heard, yet the silence that followed only made the air feel heavier.
'Can I even trust this man?' he thought, his gaze fixed sharply on Raymond's face. 'What guarantee do I have that he won't trick me and leave me to rot the moment he's already gotten all that he needs from me?'
His brows furrowed slightly, suspicion curling through his chest like smoke. Raymond stood there calmly, arms folded behind his back, smiling faintly as if he had just offered Veyr the most natural deal in the universe.
