Silence.
That was the first thing the palace noticed after Prince Sebastian awakened.
Not relief.
Not celebration.
Silence.
A heavy, unnatural silence that spread slowly through the royal chambers like death itself had stepped inside and decided to linger.
Nobody moved.
Nobody dared.
The shattered room remained frozen in ruin—broken marble, cracked walls, overturned furniture, dark energy still slithering across the floor in restless waves.
The air itself felt wrong.
Heavy.
Cold.
Breathing inside the chamber had become difficult.
Several guards near the doorway were already kneeling without realizing it, their instincts forcing submission beneath the monstrous pressure radiating from the man seated upon the ruined bed.
Sebastian.
Or perhaps—
something becoming Sebastian.
His black hair fell messily across his forehead as he sat unnaturally still amidst the destruction.
One eye glowed crimson.
The other remained completely black.
Not dark brown.
Not shadowed.
