Catherine's POV
Let them talk.
She'd know what they said.
And when the time came if it came she would d respond with precision instead of panic.
Her advisors would call this confidence.
Aurora would call it pride.
Catherine called it responsibility.
She stood and walked to the window. Night had settled gently over the city. Lights glimmered not chaotic, not dim. Balanced.
A stable system.
She felt satisfaction not triumph.
Responsibility.
"They need this," she thought. "They need someone willing to decide."
Somewhere else, Aurora was likely measuring loss.
Catherine didn't relish that.
But leadership was not a shared burden. It was a singular one.
And tonight, the world was quieter because she had carried it.
Behind her, the system continued to hum, processing dissent, tracking alignment, learning.
She allowed Beatrice and Marcus their private channel.
She allowed the illusion of independence.
After all…
Legitimacy was strongest when it survived scrutiny.
