[R-18 due to sexual scenes]
The rain continued long into the night, a steady silver curtain drumming softly against the palace rooftops and tracing delicate paths down the tall glass windows. Each droplet caught the faint glow of distant lanterns before slipping into the darkness below, while the lingering scent of wet earth and storm-cooled stone drifted through the air. Far beyond the palace walls, muted thunder rolled across the horizon, its fading echoes blending with the gentle rhythm of the rainfall and wrapping the sleeping capital in a quiet, dreamlike hush.
Soft droplets traced winding paths across the tall palace windows while distant thunder rolled somewhere beyond the sleeping capital, muted now by distance and time. The storm that had raged earlier seemed exhausted, its fury spent, leaving only a quiet rhythm that filled the spaces between heartbeats.
Within the western chambers, silence lingered, settling gently over the room like a fine veil.
