The world had quieted since the storm.
For the first time in months, peace hovered like a gentle mist over the kingdom. No more rumors. No more threats. Just soft days filled with music, rebuilding, and laughter. The people had started calling it The Second Spring.
Adrian spent most of his time in the gardens or the library, his eyes never straying too far from Evelyn. She glowed in her final months calm, radiant, and often barefoot in the hallways, humming lullabies to the growing life within her.
But even with the serenity of the palace, she lingered.
Leona.
She visited often, draped in black veils that shimmered like oil. Her voice always purred with false sweetness.
“I could take the kingdom underground " she whispered one evening as she walked beside Adrian in the moonlit corrid
