[Emperor Cassius's POV]
The air changed the moment we crossed into Elorian soil.
It wasn't just the temperature or the scent of spring blooming across the high plains—it was something deeper. Heavier. A weight that pressed into my bones like an old scar kissed by wind.
The kind only Home carries.
After three long, blood-drenched years, I was finally back. Behind me stretched a trail of broken cities and kingdoms that no longer remembered their own names. Their banners—torn and faded—flapped like ghosts in the wind.
But none of it mattered now.
Only one name burned in my mind like a war drum echoing through silence.
Lavinia.
My daughter. My fire.
She would be ten in five days.
I wondered… Had she grown taller? I wonder how much she changed.
But...
No matter.
No matter how tall she had become. No matter how regal they'd made her walk or how polished her tongue had grown…
I just wanted her to run to me. To leap into my arms and crush my ribs with a hug.
