[Silthara Palace — Malika's Office — Early Morning]
Morning did not arrive with warmth.
It crept.
Slow and pale, slipping through the carved lattice of the chamber windows, tracing faint gold across parchment-strewn tables and cold stone floors. The palace had awakened—but this chamber had not rested long enough to welcome it.
Levin sat alone; he had not slept long.
The night still clung to him—faint shadows beneath his eyes, a quiet heaviness in the way he leaned back against the chair. His fingers rose slowly, pressing against his forehead, rubbing as though he could ease the weight gathering behind his temples.
A breath left him, not tired, or weak. Just… unsettled. Something inside him felt wrong, something more subtle.
The door opened softly.
