#Chapter 61 – Honest Pages

Lila The palace felt colder now. Not in temperature, exactly, but in presence. The air had thinned. People whispered differently. Faces held fewer smiles and more calculation. I felt it as I moved through the halls, like each corridor had been swept clean of any sort of welcome and filled instead with quiet judgment. My rank still held, though it was lower—for now. But I could feel the shift in how others looked at me. I was either slightly more forgettable or more of a threat because I was allowed to return. And there would be no rest or ‘settling in’ for me. The morning etiquette session was held in the sunroom, its tall glass windows filtering gold light onto polished floors and ivory cushions. The instructor waited for us, spine straight as her ruler-stick, a frown etched permanently into her narrow face. “Posture,” she barked, the moment we entered. “Grace does not slouch.” I straightened reflexively, biting back a sigh. The other candidates filed in behind me