Chapter 117
Hope and Fear Tangled Together
The day had come.
I stood in front of the mirror.
The gold gown wrapped around me like a gilded cage. It was beautiful, ornate, and suffocating. The crushed velvet clung to my body with an almost possessive weight, pressing into my shoulders, my ribs, my breath. It felt less like clothing and more like a declaration of ownership.
I lifted my hands and adjusted the scarf at my neck.
The fabric was ivory, smooth and modest, pinned carefully beneath my chin. It was the only part of me that still felt like mine. Familiar. Intentional. A boundary I had chosen, long before this day, long before this role.
My reflection stared back at me. Recognizable, yet distant. The eyes were mine, dark and steady, but the light in them had dulled. Too much thought lived there now. Too much knowing. My lips were set in a line too controlled for someone my age, as if softness had become a liability.
