Chapter 224

AURELIA’S POV For the first time in my life, Father looked at me without disappointment shadowing his eyes. The morning had been thick with tension after the long, private talk with him. My body still ached from the weight of his command, from the way he had stripped my choices away as easily as one sheds an old cloak. But when I entered the great hall that morning, the shift was undeniable. The halls of my home that once felt and I felt like a walking shadow and nothing more, welcome me today. The air was warmer, the silence gentler. Father actually paused mid-conversation with one of Draven’s advisors to give me a nod of acknowledgment. It wasn’t affection—not even close—but it was respect. And that was a rare currency in this family. Mother even placed her hand lightly on my shoulder when I passed her chair. Her fingers lingered, a gesture that might have seemed meaningless to anyone else but nearly knocked the air out of me. She never touched me unless it was to scold me into stand