The High King's voice still echoed across the royal gardens as the applause gradually faded. The engagement ceremony continued exactly as planned.
The High Elven Princess stood beside her fiancé beneath the canopy of the World Tree, while nobles from every major race watched with smiles that had become increasingly rare over the past few years.
For a brief moment, the races seemed peaceful, as they were. Atheline leaned slightly toward Lilith
"I think this is the second gathering we've attended where no one has argued, ours is the first."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"The ceremony isn't over yet."
"You've become surprisingly pessimistic."
"I've become realistic."
He smiled quietly.
"Fair enough."
The white fox lay peacefully beside their seats, its tail lazily swaying as it watched butterflies drifting between the flowering branches overhead.
Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing... Until every manipulator inside the palace suddenly looked upward.
