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Fair.

“I had lunch with Ryleigh.”

“I heard.”

I looked at him. “How?”

“Royal staff informed me where you were.”

“Were you checking on me?”

His expression did not change. “I wanted to know where you were.”

No shame. No hesitation. Of course.

“How was it?” he asked.

“Normal.”

His brow tightened. “Define normal.”

“Children running around. Food. Pregnancy complaints.”

“She complained?”

I stared at him. “She is extremely pregnant. Like…extremely.”

“That does not automatically imply complaint.”

“You’ve clearly never been pregnant.”

He looked disturbed. “That is correct.”

I laughed.

His expression softened. That look again. Like he still didn’t know what to do with the sound.

“They have two children,” I said.

“I know.”

“The older one is Anik.”

Veyr frowned. “Anik is not four.”

“You know what I mean.”

His mouth moved. “I do.”

“He walks like him.”

“That is unfortunate.”

I smiled. “The little girl mostly smiled at me.”

“That seems safer.”

I looked down for a second before admitting, “It was nice.”