Selene walked through the palace corridors with slow, measured steps.
Her posture remained graceful, her head lowered slightly in the perfect image of a dutiful concubine.
But inside, her mind was alive with calculation.
What transpired in Rhaelynn's chambers still lingered in her thoughts. All the bitterness, the arrogance, the desperation masked beneath pride.
What a broken family, she thought coldly.
From the outside, the Stormborne royal family looked unshakable—powerful and untouchable.
But up close?
They were fractured, full of Cracks, and barely holding together.
A king and queen drifting apart. A mother consumed by hatred. A dowager queen pulling invisible strings. Princes plotting in shadows.
It was almost laughable.
I wouldn't even need much effort to destroy them, she mused. If I truly wanted to… they'd fall like dry leaves in fire.
