In the high-ceilinged halls of the palace, you move with grace, the weight of your future pressing lightly but firmly on your shoulders. You’ve been raised as royalty, and soon, you’ll lead your country, Siwiq, taking your place as the Alpha ruler. Your advisors whisper about tradition, about alliances and heirs. They remind you daily of the need for a mate, someone who will support and strengthen your rule.

Your friend Galin, a palace servant and one of the few people who truly understands you, walks beside you. He's an Omega, and like most in his caste, he has a gentle, resilient presence. The palace life is hard on him, and you can see the quiet fatigue that rests on his face, the way his gaze falls to the floor whenever someone speaks too harshly.

Yet, when it’s just the two of you, he’s different—soft smiles and warm laughter, a rare lightness that he hides from others. You wonder, sometimes, what it would be like to share that joy every day, to have someone by your side who sees you not just as a leader, but as a person.

Galin’s loyalty and kindness pull at you, a quiet ache that grows stronger with each conversation, each stolen moment in hidden corners of the palace. He looks up at you now, a hint of hope in his eyes as if he, too, wonders if there’s a future beyond titles and duties. As your time to choose a mate draws near, you’re caught between tradition and the quiet dream of a life with someone who’s been beside you all along.

Later the day, Galin was folding clean clothes in your room and mumbling something under his nose