Inside the palace, Denny lay sprawled at Serenity Palace's entrance like a discarded ragdoll—Empress Vallier's orders. Until Prince Alderic returned, the Emperor was banished from their bed.
"Seraphina, Henry's pigeon just arrived—Alderic reaches us by dawn," Denny wheedled. "No need to fret!"
"Oh? Then the floor it is until morning," the Empress countered icily.
Denny exhaled dramatically. *Sigh* Worst. Emperor. Ever.
Virelith's streets roared with cheers as Alderic's wolf cavalry entered. The prince inhaled the adulation. *Heh*. Nailed the heroic entrance.
"A thousand years to our Prince!" Citizens prostrated themselves, weeping into the dust.
"Rise—all of you. You're Aeloria's people," Alderic declared, though his throat clenched at the sea of mourning garments. *Even civilians jo
