The moon was cresting high over the Crydias Estate, its silver light gently kissing the rooftops, while inside the mansion, the warmth of shared laughter and soft voices echoed into quiet goodnights.
Most of the new girls—still adjusting to the rhythm of this strange, surreal new life—found themselves yawning after dinner, the day's intensity catching up to them. The tension of fear had gradually been replaced by a cautious comfort.
They were no longer trembling slaves in a market cage.
They were residents of a place they had decided to nickname:
The Divine Castle.
That name, spoken first by the dreamy Sionne Raventhorn Elivaria, caught on quickly. Whispers of "divine resonance" and "mana-bathed rooms" spread like an enchanting breeze through their group.
"It's not just rooms,"
Kelyth Ilvara had murmured in wonder earlier.
"The walls sing. The air vibrates like it's listening to you."
