"You really want to know, Nyr?" Rodolf asked, his eyes flicking toward Cylien every few seconds like he was checking to make sure she couldn't hear them.
Thankfully, she wasn't listening.
She was walking a good few paces behind us, chatting with Layla and Amelia. Far enough to not catch a whisper.
I nodded. "Yeah. I need to know, Rodolf."
He hesitated, scratching the back of his neck like he was trying to dig the words out of his skull. "Alright… After Ephera's death, everything went to hell. You know that. Everyone was shaken. But you… You were the first one who found her. And then you vanished. Remember?"
I frowned. "Yeah… kinda. I think I just—needed to be alone."
"Right. That's what I figured too. That's why I didn't push. Marlene, Emric, and Lucy—they all wanted to see you, talk to you, check on you. But me? I thought maybe space was what you needed. So I held them back. As for Gladys, she isolated herself"
He paused, took a breath like it tasted bitter.
