***Aldrik***
I woke early the next morning with something that felt almost like clarity.
The jealousy from the night before had settled into something cooler, more controlled. It's not gone, never gone, but manageable in a way it hadn't been while I was watching Cassius dance with another man.
I'd spent most of the night lying awake, staring at the ceiling, forcing myself to think rather than just react.
The facts were simple: Cassius was alive, he'd chosen a new life without me in it, and I loved him enough that his happiness should matter more than my own desires.
Which meant I needed a plan. A real one, not just vague intentions to "court him properly" that fell apart the moment I saw him smile at someone else.
I got up, washed my face in the basin Petra had left, and sat down at the small desk by the window to think it through properly.
