Ligny walked ahead of me, guiding me through the corridors.
The sound of our footsteps echoed against the stone floor, and only then did I truly take in my surroundings.
It was a castle.
Not just large — oppressive.
Gold adorned columns, arches, and frames with a calculated excess, as if every detail existed solely to remind anyone who truly ruled this place. The corridor seemed endless, its walls covered in oil paintings — portraits of men and women who watched me in silence.
Then, one of them caught my attention.
I stopped.
The painting was imposing.
Six figures were depicted. At the center stood an older man wearing a crown that looked far too heavy — even for a painting. Just looking at it conveyed a suffocating sense of weight. Beside him was a woman with gentle features, dressed elegantly, her serene smile distant… almost hollow.
But they weren't the ones who made my chest tighten.
It was the children.
Three of them.
Two looked confident, almost proud to be there. A boy and a girl, both with steady gazes, as if they already knew their place in the world.
The third child, however…
Looked like me.
The same hair. The same face.
But the expression was different.
Sad.
Faded.
Like someone who was there… but was never meant to be.
An uneasy sensation crept up my chest.
Before I could ask anything, Ligny called out to me.
"Come, Your Highness."
She had already resumed walking.
"You know your father dislikes delays."
I swallowed and followed her.
After a short walk, she stopped in front of a massive door.
It was strange.
The moment I stood before it, something seemed to descend upon me.
It wasn't weight.
It was… pressure.
Like invisible threads brushing against my skin, tightening slowly, wrapping around my entire body.
My breathing faltered.
Ligny, on the other hand, appeared completely calm.
She opened the door and stepped aside, allowing me to pass.