Felix glanced at Silas. "Are you going to tell him what went wrong?"
Silas lifted his head slowly. "No. He needs to suffer. Only then will he learn."
Felix stared for a moment. Then, very quietly, "That sounds personal."
Silas looked away. "Pain builds character."
Meanwhile, Martha sighed softly to herself once Kael disappeared around the corner. She lowered herself back onto the sofa, her gaze dropping to her hands.
'Why did he look… disappointed?'
The question rose unbidden, yet once it surfaced, it refused to sink back down.
'No. It must be my imagination. If anything, he is probably frustrated by Ivy's sudden matchmaking talk earlier. I am the one who should not misunderstand.'
She clasped her hands a little tighter.
........
Inside the temporal storage, Ivy finally allowed the items to stop falling. The timer had ended. She stepped out of the temporal storage, reappearing in the bathroom with a soft exhale.
