[: 3rd POV :]
"Melira… it's time. The nobles… they're all waiting for you."
The soft yet steady voice belonged to Maiya**, Melira's most trusted aide and one of her oldest friends.
She approached quietly, her long silver robe brushing against the polished marble floor as she stopped beside the Empress.
Melira didn't respond at first.
Her gaze lingered on the sky, where clouds drifted lazily under the afternoon sun.
A faint breeze brushed through her hair, carrying the distant sound of laughter and music from the palace courtyard the celebration that felt so hollow to her heart.
Maiya's expression softened.
She could see the heaviness in Melira's eyes the weight of longing and grief that had never truly faded.
For years, she had watched her Empress stand tall before the world while quietly enduring the pain of a mother who had lost her son.
"Melira…" Maiya spoke again, more gently this time,
