[Ace's POV]
I walked in comfortable silence, Ovelia's hand warm in mine. My other arm was loaded—her precious cookbook tucked against my side, the large silver wolf plush wedged beneath it. She carried the bouquet of flowers in her free hand, her expression dreamy and content as she occasionally lifted it to inhale the mingled scents.
My gaze drifted to Ray, who walked beside me. Physically, he was present, his legs moving in rhythm with ours. But his orange eyes were distant, unfocused—his mind clearly orbiting somewhere far beyond the festival lights while he mechanically held the fairy stuffed toy Gale had yet to reclaim. The earlier conversation with Prince Zephyr weighed on him. I could see it in the subtle tension around his jaw, the slight furrow between his brows.
"Ray," I said quietly.
He blinked, his gaze snapping back to the present. For a moment, he looked at me as if reorienting himself.
