Chapter 204

CHAPTER 46… VALENTINA The palace was quieter than I had ever known it, and yet it thrummed with awareness, as if the stones themselves had been holding their breath for the moment we would move. I could feel it beneath my feet, in the subtle tremor of the foundations that had witnessed centuries of rulers, rebellions, and whispered intrigues. Each echoing hall, each polished corridor, leaned toward us with cautious recognition. Luciano’s warmth pressed into my chest, grounding me, reminding me that this departure was not an abandonment of family but a declaration of it. I adjusted the straps of the small pack we would carry, ensuring that the most crucial items— artifacts tied to palace wards, documents bearing the weight of law, and protective charms I had layered over our child, were easily accessible. Luciano rested in my arms, a little heavier than his small age suggested, but still pliable against me, as if he understood in his own way that this journey was about necessity, and no