I stood there, a silent shadow hidden within the weeping willow's embrace, listening to a conversation that was not meant for me. Yumi, a warm, sleepy weight in my arms, was a stark, innocent contrast to the cold, hard lines of the tragedy unfolding just a few feet away.
The man, Christina's father, wrung his hands, his regal posture crumbling under the weight of his own helplessness. "My child," he began, his voice a low, ragged thing, thick with a despair so profound it was almost a physical force. "You know as well as I do who he is. Leon is the son of the Knight Commander. The most important, and most feared, figure in the entire empire. Even the ducal houses, with all their wealth and influence, are nothing in the face of his power. He is power itself, second only to the Dragon Queen. To defy him is to defy the very foundations of this kingdom."
