Artur listened carefully to Anna's explanation. He didn't miss a word, a sentence, or a paragraph. Nothing slipped by him, and he remembered everything. However, the more he listened, the more disappointed he became.
This wasn't what he wanted to hear...
This wasn't what he wanted to know...
But from her explanation, Artur understood that the Anna before him was not the Anna he knew. She was no longer the stubborn sister who always dreamed of becoming a mage.
The Anna before him was the wife to a powerful prince who would eventually become the king of all arion species. The silver-haired woman with a face so similar to his sister's was a future queen.
Her dreams were no longer about becoming a powerful mage. Her aspirations had shifted to becoming a consort, recognized by her people as the wise queen. She was no longer the sister Artur knew, nor the one who always occupied his thoughts.