The palace was quiet again.
But it was not the same quiet as before.
This quiet carried weight.
The council had spoken.
The trials were gone.
Tradition was changing.
And now one responsibility rested on Sebastian's shoulders.
The oath.
Sebastian stood alone in the palace courtyard.
The marble fountain flowed softly beside him. Morning light had spread across the palace walls. Servants moved quietly through the gardens, preparing the palace for the gathering outside.
But Sebastian barely noticed anyj of it.
His mind was full.
An oath.
Words that would guide every bond from this day forward.
He rubbed the back of his neck slowly.
"That's not pressure at all," he muttered under his breath.
Footsteps approached behind him.
He didn't need to turn.
Vivian.
Her presence had already become something he could feel before he saw her.
She stepped beside him quietly.
"You disappeared."
Sebastian sighed.
"I needed to think."
