The carriage rolled to a stop.

The palace gates had already been opened before they arrived, as though the building itself had been expecting them.

The two escort knights stepped down first, taking their positions on either side of the carriage door. Then, one by one, the four of them stepped out onto the broad stone courtyard.

The air up here was different from the city below. The sounds of Valemyr’s streets didn’t reach this high only the wind moved through the open space, slow and easy.

The courtyard was immaculate. The pale stone beneath their feet was laid in a careful pattern that extended outward in every direction, flanked by sculpted hedgerows and low stone balustrades. Ahead of them, the palace entrance rose in a wide, arched facade, tall doors of dark polished wood framed by columns, the stonework above carved with the imperial crest in fine, deep relief.

A line of servants stood arranged along both sides of the path leading to the entrance, dressed in formal livery, backs straight, heads lowered in a respectful bow as the group approached.

Not one of them moved. Not one of them spoke. It was the kind of welcome that had been practiced until it became effortless.

Aeliana walked at the front, composed as ever. Liana followed just behind her. Azael and Arista moved alongside each other, Arista glancing around the courtyard with open curiosity, Azael taking in the surroundings with something quieter.

"This place is amazing." Azael muttered.

Arista beside him looked at Azael. "Right. You have never been here before."

"True. My first time here. And meeting Royal family."

They passed through the entrance doors.

The interior of the palace opened up around them all at once.

Azael’s gaze moved upward instinctively. The ceiling of the entrance hall soared above them vaulted and painted in deep blues and soft golds, the artwork sweeping across the full width of the ceiling in long, continuous scenes.

’This place is really amazing.’ He thought while observing it with slight excitement.

Light poured down from windows set high in the walls, and the pale stone floor reflected it back in a warm, diffused glow. Tall pillars lined the hall on either side, each one carved from a single piece of white stone, smooth and flawless.

It was beautiful in the way that things are when beauty has been the deliberate, unwavering intention all along.

But it wasn’t the ceiling or the pillars or the light that made Azael stop thinking for a moment.

It was the woman standing at the far end of the hall.

’Wow’

He saw her before he registered anything else.

There were other people standing beside her as well. But he didn’t look at them, as she took his all attention.

She was tall. She was genuinely, remarkably tall, as though everything else in the world had been slightly underestimated.

She stood at around a hundred and eight centimeters, and she stood there the way the palace stood on its hill.

She was wearing high heels. But even if she had now wore them, she had still standing tall.

Her gown was a deep, layered blue. The color of clear ocean water where it gets deep. It was cut with the precision that belongs only to the finest tailors in the empire, structured at the bodice and flowing from the waist into a full, sweeping skirt that moved in a slow trail behind her.

The fabric caught the light in soft gradients, shifting between shades as she breathed. Along the neckline and cuffs, delicate silverwork embroidery ran in thin, branching patterns. It was a gown befitting an Empress, because it had been made for one.

Her hair was silver or perhaps white, the distinction barely mattering because it was extraordinary either way. Long and straight and impossibly smooth, it fell all the way down to her waist without a single break in its line, catching the light like poured silk. Her lashes were the same silver, long and still against her fair skin.

And her eyes.

Crystal blue. The color of the ocean on a cold, clear day calm and deep and utterly unreadable. The same quality Aeliana’s eyes had. That same composed, unhurried stillness that felt less like indifference and more like absolute self-possession.

Her skin was fair and flawless, and when her gaze found the arriving group, the corners of her lips curved just slightly. A small, quiet smile.

Her figure was more greater. Her bust was full and heavy. Similar size to Aeliana or may be slightly bigger. Something Azael prefer.

Her waist was thin, down her hips were really wide.

Azael felt his heart do something it didn’t usually do.

He became very aware of it for approximately two seconds before he collected himself, straightened slightly, and redirected his attention with effort.

’Damn! She’s so beautiful and hot!!’ He thought.

"She’s too beautiful, isn’t she?" Arist asked.

He came out of his thoughts."Yes. She is too much."

She was Empress Celestia Luminare. Thought they were in kingdom. So she should be addressed as Queen not Empress.

There were total three human kingdom. In which their Olyria Kingdom was the strongest. And dominant one. And the largets one.

The three kingdoms were in peace treaty. If Olyria kingdom wanted it wouldn’t take much longer to conqueror two other kingdom.

No one goes against her words. So she was address as Empress rather than queen by people.

He had known she existed. He had not quite been prepared for what that meant in person.

He finally shifted his gaze to the figures standing near her.

On one side stood a young woman who appeared to be around twenty-one. Her hair was the same silver-white as the Empress, though the ends shifted fading at the tips into something closer to pale blue,

Her eyes were the same crystal blue. She wore a crimson dress, vivid and warm against her cool coloring, structured at the shoulders and elegant in its cut. She held herself with a lightness that was different from the Empress’s stillness.

The princess, Christina Luminare.

Beside her was a young man who looked to be around twenty-five. He was well-built and carried himself with the quiet ease of someone who had grown up knowing the weight of expectation and had made his peace with it.

His hair was a dark blonde, the color that couldn’t fully decide between brown and gold. And his eyes were the same blue that ran through the family like a shared inheritance.

He stood straight without being rigid, and there was something attentive in his expression, the look of someone who noticed more than they showed.

The crown prince. Lucas Luminare

A few other members of the royal family were arranged nearby.

Among them stood a man who appeared to be in his mid to late thurties. He was handsome in the way that certain men become more so with age. There was something immediately familiar about him, a resemblance that Azael caught without needing to be told.

He was the Empress’s younger brother, Callius. Which made him Aeliana’s brother as well. He stood with a relaxed, open posture beside a woman who was presumably his wife, poised and pleasant-faced, dressed in a muted rose gown.

At their sides were two small children. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

A girl, who looked to be around five, stood close to her mother, peering out at the arriving guests with large, unguarded curiosity.

Beside her, a boy of about six had already spotted Arista’s red hair and was staring at it with the focused.

Aeliana stepped forward first, as was natural.

The Empress’s smile remained, small and steady, as she regarded her.

The hall was warm with light.

And Azael, standing just behind his stepmother, kept his expression even and his posture composed.

"Welcome back my sister and you three as well." Celestia welcome her sister and her family.