“If I grew up in a place as magnificent as this, perhaps I would think the same way you do. Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury.” His expression sobered, and he caught himself. “I apologize, Dayang. Perhaps I have been too forthright with you.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’d rather you be forthright. I prefer when people are honest with me,” she said, looking at him intently.

The pen fell from Ariel’s fingers with a clatter. Around them, the air in the study stilled.

“Dayang . . . ,” Ariel began, his voice strained.

“Yes?” She leaned forward, wondering if, for once, he decided he liked her enough to tell her the truth.

His eyes snapped to hers. He didn’t say anything, merely stared at her as if she were a puzzle to be solved.

A spark wound through her body then, something wild and stinging that had nothing to do with curiosity. Under the scalding heat of his gaze, a flush crept up the sides of her neck. She stood abruptly, the legs of her chair scraping against the floor.

Through the window, the light outside had begun to dim. Was it dusk already? Laya realized with a start that she had spent half the afternoon with the foreigner.

“It’s getting late. There’s somewhere I have to be,” she said.

“Yes,” he agreed. “And I ought to disappear.”

Laya strode to the exit, pausing for a moment as she leaned against the doorframe. “Thank you, by the way, for the lesson,” she said without turning around.

“I should be thanking you as well,” he called from behind her, softly, as if not to frighten her.

But he had frightened her, and Laya did not understand how that could be.

Her exchange with Ariel still haunted her an hour later as she stood with her sisters on the deck of a riverboat. The motor chugged beneath the water, an incessant warbling that did nothing to alleviate her headache. Her thoughts were swimming and her stomach was in knots, yet her skin tingled with the euphoria of connection⁠—as if Ariel had seen her in ways others could not.

“What’s the matter with you?” Eti piped up beside her.

“Nothing,” Laya said, shaking her head. She had enough to worry about without losing her head over a common Orfelian.

Bulan gave her an inquisitive look but said nothing.