The castle halls felt strangely quiet.Kelvin walked beside Diana through long corridors lined with silver banners and polished stone walls while guards and servants moved calmly around them. Soft light spilled through tall windows, reflecting across the marble floor beneath their feet. Everything looked too clean. Too untouched.After days in the forest, it almost felt unreal.Kelvin’s eyes moved carefully around the castle as they walked.Paintings hung along the walls beside old suits of armor and carved statues of former rulers. Servants bowed respectfully as Diana passed, though many of them briefly glanced toward Kelvin with visible curiosity before lowering their heads again. The silver hair probably wasn’t helping.Kelvin resisted the urge to pull his hood higher.Ahead of them, large wooden doors slowly opened.“The royal hall,” one of the guards announced.Kelvin stepped inside beside Diana.The room was enormous. Tall pillars stretched toward the ceiling while silver chand

The days began blending together.Wake up before sunrise.Run until your lungs burned.Train until your arms shook.Sleep for a few hours.Then repeat.Military life quickly became brutal routine.Kelvin sat quietly on his bunk one evening tightening the wraps around his bruised hands while recruits around him complained loudly about training.“My legs are finished,” Jace groaned from the bunk above him.“You said that yesterday,” Kailen replied while sharpening a practice dagger nearby.“And they somehow got worse.”Kelvin shook his head faintly.Despite the exhaustion, something had changed during the past several days.Training no longer overwhelmed him the way it did at first.His body adapted quickly.Too quickly.Bruises faded overnight.Muscle soreness disappeared faster than it should.Even his stamina recovered unnaturally fast.So Kelvin started pretending to struggle more during drills.Pretending to breathe harder. Pretending to tire faster.Because standing out inside mil