Winter truly made the world feel as though it had stopped.
In the northern lands, snowstorms came more often than sunlight. The wind bit into bone, roads lay buried beneath ice, and almost no one stepped outside unless absolutely necessary. Castle Morvex felt like a lonely island in a sea of white, silent, cold, and cut off from the rest of the world.
It was during those days that Valerie and Demian spent most of their time together.
The fireplace was always lit. Books lay open on the tables. Small conversations, fleeting touches, and comfortable silence became their daily rhythm. As if the outside world did not exist. As if war, blood, and a complicated future were not waiting just beyond the castle doors.
But winter was never eternal.
The signs of change came slowly storms grew less frequent, the sky was no longer perpetually gray, and life beyond the castle walls began to stir once more. Today was one of the first mornings when the air felt just a little lighter.
