~Lucian’s POV

It had been days since Bella left. Days that felt like years. The palace was no longer a place of power and authority to me—it had become a hollow, suffocating prison. Everywhere I looked, I saw memories of her: the way she smiled at the flowers in the garden, the way she moved around the grand halls with quiet grace, even her laughter echoing faintly in my mind.

And now? Silence.

I sat in my study, staring at the nearly empty bottle of whiskey in my hand. It wasn’t the ...