The sun had already started to set when Elira found herself walking to Elias’s chambers, her heart beating faster with every step. She didn’t send word, she couldn’t. If she had paused too long to think, she might’ve talked herself out of it. The conversation she overheard that afternoon still echoed in her head. The name Eryndor. It didn’t just sound familiar, it had felt familiar. Like a thread pulling at something buried deep inside her. She stopped in front of his chamber door, took a deep breath in, exhaled and then she knocked. It opened quickly. “Elira,” Elias said, surprise softening his sharp features. “You didn’t send a message. Everything alright?” he asked “I needed to speak with you,” she said, her voice a little quieter than she have expected. “It’s important.” she added. He stepped aside, letting her in. The room was dimly lit, warm with the scent of burning cedar and the faintest trace of incense. Familiar. Comfortable. But tonight, none of it put her a

Serena stormed out of Elias’s chambers, slamming the door behind her. The cold night air hit her face, but it did nothing to cool the heat rising in her chest. Her heels clicked sharply against the stone path as she walked back toward her quarters, her fists clenched at her sides, her jaw tight. She was crying, she didn't care who see her, her eyes was burning not with tears of pain, but of fury. By the time she reached her chamber, she was shaking. She pushed the door open, stepped inside, and slammed it shut behind her. The silence in the room wrapped around her like a trap. She walked straight to the mirror and stared at herself, her cheeks were flushed, lips trembling, but not from heartbreak, from rage. Wiping beneath her eyes with the back of her hand, she leaned closer. “He will never love me,” she whispered bitterly, her voice raw. “Not like I love him.” Her gaze darkened. “And Elira… Elira gets Lucien’s attention without even trying.” She turned away fro