Chapter 57 Just Begining

• The council chamber had emptied, but the echo of their footsteps still lingered, as if the room itself was unsettled by the weight of the coming war. I sat in silence, staring at the ancient tapestries that lined the stone walls. Each one depicted scenes of past kings, conquering, ruling, and crushing rebellions. It was the cycle of power—those who dared to defy it were always met with the same end.
• But Florence was different. She wasn’t just another rebel leader, some faceless upstart I could dismiss. She was my blood. My daughter. And she had chosen to betray me, to stand against everything I had built. There had been a time when I had looked at her and seen potential—someone who could one day rule at my side. But that dream had long since turned to ash.
• Now, there was only one path forward. She had chosen war, and I would give it to her.