Morning returned to the palace without announcement, without herald, without any visible declaration that the rhythm of court had resumed, and yet within the corridors, beneath the measured footfalls of servants and the steady presence of guards who stood as they always had, there existed a subtle shift that could not be named but could be felt, as though the air itself had learned to carry more than sound, more than movement, more than the ordinary exchanges that defined the passing of time.
Nothing appeared out of place.
Nothing was visibly altered.
And yet—
Everything had changed.
