The throne room was crowded the next morning, nobles and ministers gathered beneath the grandeur of the ceiling.
The atmosphere carried an edge of expectancy, the Emperor's first formal address since his return.
A eunuch in deep crimson robes stepped forward.
"By His Imperial Majesty's command," he began, "let it be known throughout the Empire that the Regency has now ended. His Excellency, General Alaric Theodore Blake, is henceforth to be addressed formally as His Highness, Prince Alaric, First Ranked Prince of Eldoria."
The announcement rippled through the court like a storm, nobles shifting, murmurs rising.
The acknowledgment of Alaric's bloodline and title was not new, but to hear it declared aloud, binding, before all of Eldoria's highest lords, it struck with the weight of permanence.
Alaric stood tall, his expression a mask of stone, though his hand, hidden behind his cloak, tightened around Daphne's.
