The city did not fall silent after the celebration. It simply exhaled.
After days of music, banners, marching feet, and endless voices raised in welcome, Virencia slowly returned to its familiar rhythm. Stalls reopened in orderly rows, guards resumed their steady patrols, and merchants returned to bargaining instead of reminiscing. The streets, once overflowing with emotion, now carried only the gentle hum of daily life.
The crusade party had been welcomed—honoured, embraced—and now, at last, allowed to rest.
Within the palace and nearby quarters, reunited families closed their doors, sharing meals long delayed and conversations that had waited for months. Knights laid aside armour that had grown heavier with every battlefield. Commanders submitted reports and then vanished into rare moments of quiet. Homecoming, Luke knew, was not something meant to be rushed.
And so, he and Ilyrana did not turn toward the palace.
They turned toward the sea.
