Internally, he thought, with complete honesty, that Kraven was not wrong to develop such feeling.
The hall went completely silent.
It happened the moment Julian stepped through the doorway properly. The maids stopped where they stood. The one holding towels didnât lower them. The one with the tray didnât set it down. They simply stopped, their eyes moving between Julian and Olivia.
Moth went still at Julianâs shoulder.
Olivia didnât move either, but her stillness was different from everyone elseâs. It was composed rather than frozen. Her eyes remained on Julianâs face, and her expression held a careful balance, as though she were deliberately keeping it steady, doing her best not to let any trace of surprise show.
Julian walked toward her.
He kept his steps unhurried and natural and crossed the hall without any hint of hesitation that Kraven might have have shown in the same situation. He stopped at a distance that was respectful and didnât feel invading.
For a brief moment, he simply stood there, meeting her gaze directly. There was no attempt to look away or soften the moment.
"Mother," he said.
The word was flat. It carried no warmth, no tension, and no hidden meaning beneath it
Oliviaâs eyes shifted slightly.
It was a small thingâa brief flicker that crossed her face and vanished before it could fully take shape. For that single instant, something beneath her composure slipped through, a hint of the conflict she kept tightly controlled. It was subtle, easy to miss if one wasnât paying attention, but it was there all the same.
Then, just as quickly, it was gone. She gathered herself again, and her expression settled back into that same calm, unreadable composure, as if nothing had ever disturbed it.
"Kraven," she said.
A beat passed.
"Youâve returned," she said.
"The King is coming," Julian replied. "Father wanted the family present."
Olivia nodded once. Her eyes moved over him slowly, studying his face, his eyes, the way he held himselfâtaking in every detail with careful attention.
Julian understood what she was looking for.
She was looking for Kravenâthe version of him she knew. The one who carried that scandalous edge whenever they crossed paths in the castle, whose words always seemed to hold something unspoken beneath them. The subtle tension in his gaze, the quiet implications behind even the simplest exchangesâshe was searching for all of it, trying to find even the smallest trace of it in the man standing before her.
She wasnât finding it.
Julian was careful to give her nothing that pointed in that direction. Every instinct, every behavior pattern that Kravenâs body carried toward her â he suppressed it.
The confusion it was creating in her was subtle but visible to him.
"You look well," she said finally.
"The time away did what it was supposed to do," Julian replied simply.
Another beat of silence. Then, with the natural talent of someone redirecting a conversation onto safer ground: "How was the journey."
"Long," Julian said. "Eight hours on the road." He paused. "The gate gave us some difficulty."
Something moved through Oliviaâs expression at that. It seemed she was aware about the difficulty that Liam was causing the family
"Yes," she said quietly. "Things have shifted since you left."
She didnât elaborate and Julian didnât push.
The atmosphere between them was complex. On the surface, everything seemed calm and controlled, with neither of them giving anything away. But beneath, the tension was unmistakable.
Olivia looked at him for a moment longer, and the unresolved curiosity was there in her eyes, clear enough that she didnât bother to hide it entirely. She had simply decided not to pursue it.
"I have work to finish," she said.
"Of course," Julian replied.
She held his gaze for one more beat.
Then she turned, gestured once to the maids, and moved toward the far corridor. They fell in behind her immediately and both of them seemed visibly relieved to be in motion again. The sound of their footsteps faded down the corridor and the hall returned to its regular silence.
Julian watched her go.
The dress she wore was technically modest, but it was completely powerless against the way she moved.
There was a slow, natural sway to her hips with every step. Her ass shifted with a lazy, hypnotic rhythm and the fabric stretched just enough to hint at the full, rounded shape beneath. The subtle bounce and sway drew the eye helplessly, making the innocent dress feel almost obscene on her body.
Julian observed this for approximately three seconds and then directed his attention elsewhere.
Beside him, Moth was standing silently.
Julian looked at him.
"Take me to the dukeâs office."
"Yes, young lord," Moth said immediately. "This way."
**
The office was on the second floor.
Moth led him up the main staircase and stopped before a heavy door at the far end. He pushed it open and stepped aside.
Julian followed.
It was a large room. A wide desk dominated the center, its surface empty except for a single closed ledger. A single mana lamp burned on the desk. Maps were pinned to one section of the wall, while bookshelves lined the other. Behind the desk, a window looked out over the rear grounds of the castle.
No unnecessary furniture. No ornamentation beyond the Astran crest above the door.
Julian sat in one of the chairs and dismissed Moth.
The door closed and the room was quiet.
He thought about Olivia.
Her reaction was controlled but it was real. She expected something from him and did not receive it, and the absence unsettled her in a way she wasnât prepared for.
He thought about Liam.
Passive for now.
Those words had been sitting at the back of his attention since the knight had said them in the courtyard. Passive was not the same as still.
He was waiting.
The Kingâs visit changed the political mathematics. Whatever move Liam was building toward, he couldnât execute it cleanly while the King was present on Astran grounds. The crownâs proximity constrained everyone equally. So he would hold, and he would watch, and the moment the Kingâs carriage left the duchy he would have an unobstructed field again.
Julian had a narrow window.