The dark swallowed the square whole, the smell hitting Juna's nose before any sound did.
Clean linen, crushed violets and cold steel, a perfume she remembered from a burning village.
"Do not tell me that is who I think it is," Vella whispered, pulling Ash close against her chest.
"The flower boy who kicked Loccy through a wall, I would know that stink anywhere," Juna growled, both daggers already in her fists.
"Warning, a hostile mana signature at seven Shards is standing on the manor gable," Aria said from Hajin's collar, "he is smiling."
"Good evening, I do hate to interrupt a man with dessert," a polished voice drifted down from above them.
A lean figure in pale armor stood on the gable above, seven crystals glowing violet on his back. He held a thin rapier loosely in one gloved hand, as though greeting guests at a garden party.
Corven sighed, stepping off the edge, "I won't enjoy this, which is a pity for you."
