[: 3rd POV :]
The echoes of what should have been a celebration still lingered faintly in the halls, but it was full with tenses.
There was no joy in the gilded halls, no warmth in the radiant chandeliers.
The only thought that was on Melira's mind was nothing but burning vengeance.
After hours of the supposed celebration's had end, she began a continent-wide investigation that stretched into every shadowed corner of the land.
Her agents moved with the precision of assassins and the relentlessness of storms.
Hidden routes, secret trading posts, smugglers' dens, and even corrupt local officials were traced, interrogated, and exposed.
Every fragment of information, every whisper, every crumb of truth was pulled together like pieces of a monstrous puzzle.
Word of her relentless pursuit spread quickly.
Before long, the rulers of the continent themselves approached, not by her command, but of their own volition, recognising the gravity of the situation.
