Elyon returned again the next day.
And the next.
And the next.
Never with flowers. Never with a confession.
Never with a flirty comment.
Instead, he swept the floors, carried crates, fixed broken shelves, and handed her mother herbal scrolls he found while traveling.
Sometimes he barely spoke at all.
Sometimes he simply sat in a corner, reading.
Seren found herself watching him-carefully, secretly. She noticed how he never stared at her body the way other men did. How he
asked if she'd eaten. How he stood between her and rude customers without making a scene. How he kept a respectful distance when they walked home.
"Why are you helping me?" Seren asked one evening while they closed the shop.
Elyon didn't look up. "Because you look like you haven't been helped in a long time."
Her breath caught.
"You don't want... anything from me? Not love? Not attention? Not my face?"
Elyon finally turned to her. His eyes softened.
"I want the part of you no one bothers to see."
Her heart stuttered.
No one had ever said that
Ever.
And for the first time...
Seren didn't know what to do.