Lucien never knew that spending time with Edmund while pretending the past did not exist could feel this gentle.
Maybe he had been too petty, too stubborn, too raw to let himself enjoy it. Ten years had passed, yet the wound never fully closed, and the love that once lived there refused to die.
It was a strange torment, the desire to hurt Edmund and the ache that struck twice as hard whenever he imagined doing it.
But still, he was curious about what had happened back then. Not like the Leopard, he still couldn't move on from the past yet.
He walked along the beach barefoot, letting the cool grains of sand push between his toes.
When a soft glint caught his eye, he crouched and brushed away the sand from a small shell. Its surface shimmered with a warm pink glow under the afternoon sun.
He brought it to his ear and listened to the gentle murmur inside it, a whisper of waves contained in something so small. It felt peaceful in a way his heart never managed to be.
