The palace changed after that night.
Not in structure.
Not in guards or banners or the iron grip of Draco rule.
But in something far more subtle—
Something that could not be seen, only felt.
A shift in attention.
A narrowing of focus.
Toward her.
Ariana noticed it the moment she returned to her chambers.
Servants who once avoided her gaze now lingered a second too long. Guards who once stood indifferent now watched her with quiet intensity. Even the silence felt different—as though the walls themselves had begun listening.
And at the center of it all—
Alexander.
Serena closed the chamber doors behind them with trembling hands.
"You should not have gone," she whispered urgently.
Ariana pulled the shawl from her shoulders, her movements slow, distant.
"I had to."
"You could have been seen."
"I was seen."
Serena froze.
"What?"
Ariana turned, her expression unreadable.
"He was there."
Serena's breath caught.
"The king?"
Ariana nodded.
Silence fell.
Heavy.
