Tonight marks the ‘Royal Ball’, the night where every kingdom gathers under one roof—creating a sea of power, politics and tradition.

Normally, I’d find myself tucked away in a corner with no interest at all. But tonight? I found a girl around my age who was so effortlessly lovely. She had this warmth about her that made everything feel less heavy. We clicked almost instantly—laughing, sharing stories, talking about the things that really mattered.

She was the kind of person you could talk to for hours without ever getting bored.*

And then, mid-conversation, I heard it—her mention of a name. “Salar?”

My stomach tightened.

“Wait…Salar as in...the Salarian Kingdom? Are you...?”

The realisation hit me quicker than I could process. I was sitting here, talking to someone my bloodline had despised for generations. The person I was supposed to fight when I became Queen of the Cavendish Kingdom.