Malrik POV

Drethos knelt before me, his face carved with defiance, but beneath that fury lingered something far more disturbing delusion.

Did he truly still believe his daughter had any claim here? That this place was ever meant to be her home? We had already resolved this at the summon the very summon he himself had initiated, dragging me into a courtroom, lawyering up, and trying to chain me to a contract I never wanted. And yet, here he was, repeating the same tired refrain as if sheer ...