Valeria

The mansion had been quiet for days, but I could feel that it was the kind of silence that didn’t last. There was tension in the air—something sharp that made everyone move slower, talk softer, and look over their shoulders. The servants avoided my eyes. The guards whispered when they thought I couldn’t hear them.

I knew why. Elena.

She had been moving around the house more than usual, pretending to be kind again, pretending she cared about Dante and the empire. But her eyes ...