Maria couldn't stop smiling as their horses clopped along the cobblestone streets.
Everywhere she looked, there was laughter, music, and the scent of freshly baked bread.
Farmers hauled carts full of ripe produce, merchants greeted customers warmly, and children ran barefoot, waving ribbons through the air.
It was as if the entire town pulsed with life and gratitude.
"Everywhere we go, people look...alive." She murmured softly. "It's like joy itself is in the air."
And truly, that's how it felt.
The whole town radiated an invisible warmth, a kind of energy she'd never experienced anywhere else.
Even the most ordinary scenes seemed touched by light: a father playfully lifting his daughter onto his shoulders; a group of teenagers repairing a shop sign together, laughing.
Cassius's influence could be felt everywhere and Maria's heart swelled.
She'd travelled all over the continent with her daughter and she had seen misery in countless forms.
