"Do you think," Lucavion continued, voice quiet, smooth, "this world is the only place where life exists?"
Silence.
A beat.
Then another.
The Duke did not answer. Not immediately.
His expression did not change.
And yet—
Lucavion could see it.
That flicker of thought. Of calculation.
That doubt.
The quiet tension of a man who had spent his life grounded in reality, in the certainties of power, of control—only to be confronted with something that threatened to unravel it.
Something older.
Something beyond this world.
Lucavion's smile widened just slightly.
'Now….I have gathered your interest….'
The Duke exhaled slowly, his golden gaze steady.
