"…you are strong."
The words weren't dramatic. They weren't part of a speech. They were a statement.
Honest.
Clear.
Heavy.
Lucavion raised an eyebrow slightly, his grin still in place. "You say that like you just figured it out."
Caeden didn't smile. But there was a faint shift in his posture—a slight tilt of his chin, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes.
"I didn't," he said. "I knew."
He glanced briefly at the golden thread of Lucavion's name still floating above his head. Then back into Lucavion's eyes.
"But knowing it and seeing it aren't the same."
Another pause. This time, shorter.
"And I don't believe in titles won without sweat."
Lucavion's smirk flickered—something sharper behind it now.
A glint of approval.
Respect.
"Mm," he mused, voice light but edged. "So? You going to test it?"
"Not now," Caeden said, voice steady.
Lucavion's grin widened, brow arching just slightly. "Not now?"
