The air in my room felt heavy with the weight of silence, each passing moment only amplifying the ache in my chest.
Since the argument with Riley two weeks ago, the tension between us had grown palpable, like a thick fog obscuring any chance of reconciliation. Even Jade, once a comforting presence, now regarded me with suspicion, her gaze a constant reminder of the rift that had formed between us.
Becoming queen was never something I had desired. The thought of being bound by the constraints of duty and tradition filled me with a sense of suffocation, as though I were being slowly suffocated by the weight of expectations.
My parents, staunch traditionalists, had always drilled into me the importance of upholding our family's legacy, but I had always yearned for something more, something beyond the confines of palace walls and royal decrees.
