Days passed, one after another, yet Jay still had not returned from the border. There was no clear news, no certainty of when he would come home. And within the Northern Castle, life continued, as if the world were not standing on the edge of collapse.
The soldiers rotated their guard shifts. The servants carried out their duties as usual. Refugees slowly rebuilt fragments of daily life under Zelthar's protection.
Everything seemed normal… far too normal.
Including Liv.
She tried to move through her days calmly, waking early, walking the castle corridors, greeting those she passed, listening to the Grand Duchess's brief reports. She smiled. She nodded. She appeared perfectly fine.
But every night, when silence settled in, only one name circled endlessly in her mind.
Jay.
