As King Conrad III walked through the resplendent halls of the palace, the air around him, typically thick with warmth and familiarity, had undergone a palpable transformation. The grand corridors, which once exuded a sense of welcoming embrace, now felt distinctly colder, as if the very stones that formed them had conspired to induce a chill at the base of his neck.
The impending meeting with his mother weighed on his heart and mind. It had been nearly six years since their paths had last crossed, and in that time, their relationship had grown complicated, laden with past disagreements and unresolved issues. The echoes of past conversations, both tender and tense, reverberated through his memory as he navigated the familiar, yet now somehow ominous, passageways.
