The palace announced, and everyone in the Empire felt it the moment the ether-network shifted its priorities and the official Imperial Broadcast channel pushed a notification through every verified civic feed, every noble registry account, and every public display that carried the crest of House Alamina.
The seal unfurling in a clean holo-animation over a field of deep midnight blue, ether-lines threading through it like veins of light. The design made it clear the message wasn't optional.
On the main avenue outside the palace, the public panels changed at once. In government towers, screens in meeting rooms dimmed mid-argument. In noble salons, people who lived for rumors went abruptly silent, because when the imperial house spoke, gossip became irrelevant for exactly as long as the message lasted.
In the manor, Rafael watched it from a private feed.
