Seraphina turned to face Lucian.
"No, I'm okay, really." She forced a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's just… curiosity, I guess."
Lucian studied her quietly, the way he always did when he didn't believe her but chose not to argue.
"Curiosity doesn't hurt like this," he said softly.
Her gaze flickered away from him, toward the flowers she had just been tending, as if suddenly they were far more interesting than his eyes.
"It's nothing," she insisted again, too quickly. "I just… keep thinking. About things that will never make sense."
Lucian didn't let it go.
"What is it?" he asked gently. "If it's bothering you, tell me. Maybe I can answer your curiosity… or at least help make sense of the things that don't."
Seraphina shook her head slowly.
"You know… ever since I arrived here," she said quietly, "nothing has really made sense. Not even once."
Lucian's brows drew together at her words.
