Sophia
The room felt quiet after Erick’s words from the screen.
I sat frozen in my chair, my chest tightening as silence pressed in around me.
Queen Elise remained still beside me, her hands folded neatly in her lap, her expression unreadable as though she had seen too many such endings to be moved.
But I wasn’t her.
I wasn’t made of tempered steel like Erick, or centuries of regal control like Elise.
I was just me.
And I couldn’t shake the image of Alan’s face.
He hadn’t even fought too hard at the end.
His body had sagged under the weight of guilt, his eyes were hollow as though he had already accepted what was coming.
That look would haunt me.
Not because he was innocent, but because of what he might have been if Sonya had never crossed his path.
Alan had once been Eri
