Chapter 264

AURELIA’S POV Something was wrong. For days after Father’s confrontation, the entire house had shifted into an eerie calm. Too calm. Father hadn’t summoned me, Seraphina hadn’t cornered me, and even the usual whispers in the corridors seemed hushed. It was as though the entire world was holding its breath. But silence was never safety in this house. It was a storm waiting to break. I noticed it most in Seraphina. She no longer strutted through the halls with that blinding smile and perfect poise. She was… subdued. Her head bowed more often, her laughter forced, her hands busier with the endless duties Draven had assigned her. The Seraphina I knew—the one who always found time to taunt me, to remind me of my place in the shadows—was slipping. It unnerved me. One afternoon, I went to the garden to pick flowers, anything to clear my restless head. The air smelled of lavender and wild roses, the sun warm on my skin. I had just bent to cut a stem when a body brushed mine sharply. I looked u