Erick
There were few things in life that could put my mind in such unrest that even the weighty affairs of ruling a kingdom felt like mere background noise. But today… today my thoughts were a battlefield.
My mother.
Queen Elise.
For as long as I’d lived, she had been the embodiment of restraint, controlled dignity, cold grace, unwavering composure. And now… she looked like a woman reborn.
Everything about her had shifted—subtle but unmistakable.
There was warmth to her eyes that hadn’t existed before, a softness in her tone, even a glow beneath her skin.
For years, it was as though frost lived beneath her flesh, a queen carved from winter marble. Now there was spring .
in her, blooming where frost once ruled.
And all of this because of him?
My jaw tightened, fingers drumming
