Ranio’s POV
I paced the halls of the palace, my mind swirling with thoughts I couldn’t shake. The elders’ decision weighed heavily on me. Asher's suggestion to declare Lily as my mate had caught me completely off guard. He knew how complicated things were. He knew how Lyra and I stopped myself from finishing the thought. Now was not the time to dwell on the past, yet the idea of standing in front of the entire court and announcing someone else as my mate felt like a betrayal of everything I held close.
What was Asher thinking? Why would he push for this? Did he truly believe this was the best course of action, or was there something else he wasn’t telling me? I still had a few minutes before the banquet began, a few minutes to come up with a solution, but I felt trapped by the expectatio
