The Grand Hall of Aurelion had not shone so brilliantly in years.
Hundreds of candles burned within golden chandeliers suspended from the vast vaulted ceiling. Noble banners hung between marble pillars, and musicians played slow, elegant melodies that echoed through the hall like distant memories of peace.
It was a celebration of victory.
But beneath the glittering surface, something colder lingered.
Princess Maria stood near the edge of the hall, her heart beating with quiet intensity.
Two years.
Two long years had passed since she last saw him.
When the doors finally opened and the returning generals entered, the crowd erupted into applause.
Among them walked Prince Cassian Dravenhart.
Maria's breath caught.
War had reshaped him entirely.
The boy she remembered had vanished.
In his place stood a man carved by hardship.
His black hair had grown slightly longer, falling across a brow marked with a faint scar. His once youthful features had sharpened into something rougher, more dangerous. His green eyes no longer carried the softness of youth but the steady watchfulness of someone who had survived too many nights among enemies.
Yet when his gaze crossed the hall and landed upon her, the hardness in those eyes wavered.
Maria had changed as well.
Her red hair flowed like molten copper down her back, and her pale skin seemed almost luminous beneath the candlelight. Her blue eyes held a quiet depth that made even the most arrogant nobles hesitate when meeting her gaze.
For a brief moment, neither of them moved.
Their thoughts echoed silently.
Cassian thought
She has become even more beautiful than the memory I carried through war.
Maria thought
He came back alive.
King Aldric watched the moment from his throne at the head of the hall.
A faint shadow passed through his eyes.
He had expected war to remove the young prince from his path.
Instead, the boy had returned stronger.
That… was inconvenient.
The king raised his goblet.
"Tonight we honor the warriors who protected Aurelion from the shadows of Noctyra."
The hall erupted in cheers.
Yet Cassian barely heard them.
His attention remained fixed on Maria.
And somewhere deep within the king's mind, an older memory stirred again.
The prophecy he had heard decades ago.
A child born of...
A child capable of reshaping kingdoms.
His gaze slowly moved toward Maria.
My beautiful daughter.