Silence that breaks follow her words.
The moment Liora said it—I'm not you—the chamber reacted, not with sound, not with force, but with something far more unsettling.
Disagreement.
The vast hall trembled, not violently, but with a deep, resonant shift that ran through the pillars, the floor, the very air itself. It was subtle enough to go unnoticed by anyone less aware—but here, in this place, nothing was subtle.
Everything meant something.
Aetheris did not move at first.
She remained seated on the throne, her silver gaze fixed on Liora, steady and unreadable. But something in the space around her tightened, like the world itself was waiting for her response.
When it came—
It was quieter than before.
"…You were."
The words carried no anger.
No denial.
Only certainty.
Liora didn't flinch.
"…Past tense."
A pause.
"…That's the difference."
Aetheris studied her for a long moment.
Not as an opponent.
Not as a stranger.
But as something incomplete.
