Crown of Blessings
The courtyard was ablaze with quiet.
Then a solitary voice—deep, weighed down with age and respect.
A murmur spread through the moonlit courtyard as King Aurelian's voice sliced through the silence, slow and measured:
"I, Aurelian Moonlight, King of this Moonstone Kingdom… bless you, Princess Lira."
Every word dropped like stone into calm water—measured, plain, but with the full force of a king's power. The throne rooms did not erupt in cheers. Rather, they rang with breath caught, with hearts hearing—as if even the marble under their feet recalled how seldom such favors came.
Princess Lira bowed low, her silver hair cascading over her shoulders like liquid moonlight. Her heart raced behind the façade of royalty.
She had waited her whole life to hear those words—not from a monarch, but from her father.
He was always aloof. Looming. A man who stood too far above the clouds of responsibility to notice the little girl looking up.
And now… he had spoken.
