The castle stood out against the azure sky. It stood there as though summoned from a child's storybook. It was ideal. Leo used to envision unicorns in the courtyard as a kid, since why not if those towers might exist? Every stone was even and square as if the builders were obsessed with perfection and genuinely cared about what they created. They were built to protect a community, reverberate with laughter, and provide the shelter they required for millennia.

Leo looked up at ...