The air inside the chamber had changed. Heavier now. Charged with something unseen but undeniable. Each candle flickered lower, their flames bowing in reverence, as though even the light itself understood what was about to take place.
Eren moved like a shadow over her, slow and deliberate. Elena lay across the silk sheets, her silver hair fanned out like threads of moonlight. Her arms still trembled from before, but her gaze never left him—not once.
She expected him to take her then. To claim her body with the same command he wielded like a blade. But instead, he knelt.
At the foot of the bed.
Elena blinked. "Veilwalker…?" Her voice was breathless, the single word carrying confusion, awe, and desire braided into one.
Eren didn't answer at first. He simply took her legs—light as branches in his strong hands—and parted them. Slowly. Tenderly. As if unveiling something sacred.
