While the four of them were thinking about Seraphine that night, Seraphine Veyr had already been thinking about Aurelian for much longer than any of them realized.

Not obsessively.

Not in some dramatic way.

Months earlier, back when Aurelian had quietly disappeared from normal Alliance routes and his name stopped showing up in the usual Arcturus movement records, Seraphine had been buried in work inside one of House Veyr’s private estates in the core systems.

The estate overlooked Elaris Prime, a blue-white world wrapped in orbital lanes and traffic, but Seraphine rarely paid attention to the view. She had too much on her desk.

Trade disputes from outer colonies.

Settlement petitions from frontier sectors.

Reserve administration reports.

Strategic review requests.

Enough paperwork to keep most people busy for days.

She moved through it steadily.

That was normal for her.

Anyone seeing her there would have understood why her name had spread so quickly despite her age.

She was young, younger than many people expected for someone carrying this much responsibility, but she handled herself with calm confidence and rarely looked rushed.

Her silver-gold hair was pinned neatly behind her shoulders while she reviewed another report.

That was when Lyra entered.

Quietly, like always.

Lyra had worked beside Seraphine long enough to know exactly when to interrupt.

"Lady Seraphine."

Seraphine looked up.

"There is a small matter involving House Arcturus."

One brow lifted slightly as she was curious as to why Lyra brought that up now.

"Aurelian Arcturus has gone off the network."

Seraphine looked back at the document in front of her.

"Off the network, how?"

"Completely."

"Danger?"

"Unknown."

That got a second of silence.

Then Seraphine gave the calmest answer possible.

"I see."

Lyra waited.

Nothing else came.

Seraphine returned to work.

The conversation ended there.

Or at least, it should have.

But the thought stayed around.

Normally, someone disappearing for a short time wouldn’t matter much. Frontier training happened. Patrol routes lost contact. Ruins interfered with systems.

That was common.

But Aurelian had never felt common.

Seraphine had met him a handful of times over the years.

Never privately.

Never for long.

Mostly family gatherings, political functions, and the usual noble events where heirs were expected to stand properly, say the right things, and avoid embarrassing anyone.

Aurelian had always stood out a little.

Not because he tried.

Actually, the opposite.

He never chased attention.

Never pushed into conversations.

Never made himself louder than needed.

He listened.

Answered directly.

Then, he somehow disappeared before anyone could trap him in another long discussion.

He had a dry sense of humor when he felt like using it.

And every time Seraphine spoke with him, she left with the same odd feeling.

He had said less than almost everyone else.

And somehow revealed even less.

Interesting.

Not enough to think about much.

At least at the time.

But after he disappeared?

That changed.

A week passed.

Then another.

Lyra entered with another update.

"Still no movement?" Seraphine asked before Lyra even spoke.

Lyra paused.

Then smiled faintly.

"No."

Seraphine set her stylus down.

"That is unusual."

"Yes."

"Arcturus family?"

"They are surprisingly quiet."

That made it stranger.

Arcturus was disciplined.

But not careless.

If one of their major heirs had actually gone missing in a dangerous way, there would have been visible movement somewhere.

More ships, more traffic, more pressure.

But there was none.

That suggested confidence.

Or secrecy.

Possibly both.

Seraphine thought about it briefly, then went back to work.

A few more days passed.

Then another report.

Then another.

No academy activity.

No mission filings.

No border travel.

No official fleet routes.

Nothing.

That was when curiosity finally won.

When her next work cycle opened slightly, she arranged a visit to Arcturus’ family for the simplest possible reason.

A family alliance review.

No one refused.

No one could.

The agreement between the Veyr family and the Arcturus family was old enough that such a visit was completely natural.

Even if both sides knew there was more behind it.

When Seraphine arrived, Elara personally welcomed her.

Warmer than formal protocol required.

Elara had always liked her.

Cassian respected her.

The estate itself looked exactly the way she expected, calm, orderedly, efficient.

Everything in place.

Except Aurelian.

He wasn’t there.

At first, she stayed the planned amount of time.

Then a little longer.

Then longer than intended.

At first, it felt practical.

Then inconvenient.

Then quietly amusing.

Because even while visiting his own home to ask about him, she somehow still wasn’t finding him.

Elara noticed eventually.

Seraphine had been helping review a trade schedule when Elara casually asked, "You’re looking for him."

Seraphine didn’t react much.

"A little."

Elara smiled.

"That is more honest than most people."

"I assumed honesty would save time."

"Usually yes."

"And?"

Elara folded her hands calmly.

"And if you are asking where Aurelian is, then the answer is simple."

Seraphine waited.

"I know generally."

"That is not specific."

"No."

"Can I ask?"

"You can."

Seraphine gave her a look.

Elara smiled wider.

"I cannot tell you."

That was frustrating.

And somehow entertaining.

Cassian was even less useful.

When Seraphine asked him later during dinner, he simply said, "He is working."

"That tells me almost nothing."

"It tells you the important part."

"Dangerous work?"

Cassian looked thoughtful.

"Depends on how you define dangerous."

"That sounds worse."

"It probably is."

Then he calmly changed the subject.

That alone told her enough.

Aurelian was somewhere important.

Somewhere hidden.

And his family was protecting the details carefully.

That should have been enough.

It should have satisfied her curiosity and ended there.

Instead, it did the opposite.

Because every answer somehow confirmed he was doing something worth hiding.

And no one around him looked worried.

Which meant he was succeeding.

That stayed with her.

Long after she left.

Long after the visit ended.

Even once she returned to House Veyr and resumed her normal schedule.

The reports still came.

The work stayed busy.

But every now and then, she would glance at an Alliance movement report or a frontier notice and wonder if one of them somehow tied back to him.

A strange habit.

A mildly irritating one.

And definitely noticeable enough for Lyra to eventually catch it.

Late one evening, while Seraphine was finishing sector reports, Lyra asked without looking up.

"Still no movement."

Seraphine paused.

Then gave her a flat look.

"You were waiting to say that."

"Yes."

"That was unnecessary."

"Probably."

Seraphine looked back at the document.

Then, after a second, asked quietly, "Nothing?"

"Nothing official."

That was somehow worse.

Seraphine let out a slow breath.

Then, they returned to work.

But not before thinking one more time that if Aurelian Arcturus kept disappearing like this, eventually she was going to need a much more direct conversation with him.

And if that thought stayed with her longer than it should have, well.

That was mildly inconvenient.

And quietly amusing.