The winter carnival

Veronica and Lorcan were standing before him with the rest of the members. Ethan crossed his hands on his chest, standing stoutly before him.

"You should have stayed as you disappeared. It was a big mistake to come here again," Lorcan murmured, his tone laced with a mixture of admonishment and regret. "Your arrival here, Jaegar, it was clearly a blunder."

Lorcan's gaze bore into him, the weight of his words hanging in the air, heavy and laden with a stark truth. A hush followed as if the world itself was pausing to absorb the gravity of what had been said. Lorcan's voice, when it came, carried a note of sternness that seemed to punctuate the silence.

Jaegar's lips curled into a quizzical smile, a glint of provocation gleaming in his eyes. "Insecurity, Lorcan? Could it be that the presence of a certain someone casts a shadow over your achievements?" he quipped, his words a playful barb aimed at unravelling Lorcan's composure.