Next day the letter arrived just before sunset.

  Seren dismissed the servant with a nod and broke the royal seal herself. She already recognized the handwriting - sharp, controlled, deliberate.

  Her father never wasted ink.

  She unfolded it.

  Eastern Province.

  Military reorganization required.

  You will depart at once.

  That was all.

  No softness. No unnecessary phrasing.

  She read it twice anyway.

  The ball had ended only a few days ago. The palace was still heavy with music and perfume and whispers.

  And now-

  She was leaving.

  Her jaw tightened slightly, though she could not have said why. This was not punishment. It was trust. Responsibility.

  Still... the timing was almost ironic.

  She folded the parchment carefully and placed it on her desk.

  When her father summoned, she moved.

  That was the way it had always been.

  ---

  Her trunk lay open across her bed.

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  She packed the way she fought - efficiently, precisely, without indulgence.

  Uniforms first. Folded cleanly.

  Gloves.

  Field boots.

  Documents tied in leather cord.

  Maps of the eastern borders of the kingdom, layered carefully to avoid creases.

  Last-

  Her sword.

  She lifted it slowly.

  The steel caught the dying sunlight, flashing across her room in a thin line of silver. For a moment, her reflection shimmered faintly in the blade.

  Calm.

  Unyielding.

  Distant.

  She ran her thumb along the sheath.

  Then placed it inside the trunk and shut the lid.

  ---

  Her brothers were waiting in the corridor.

  "Eastern Province?" the older one asked, already knowing the answer.

  She nodded.

  The younger leaned against the wall with a crooked grin. "Try not to conquer it entirely. Father still needs something left to rule."

  A faint smirk touched her lips. "I'll leave you a village or two."

  They laughed, but there was pride behind it.

  They always watched her leave like this.

  As if each departure carved her into something sharper.

  ---

  Outside the palace gates, Seren slowed when she saw them waiting.

  Mariel stood with her arms crossed, clearly impatient, while Lysa paced in front of the carriage like she had been there for too long.

  The moment Lysa spotted Seren, she rushed forward.

  "You're actually leaving," she said, grabbing Seren's hands. "Just like that."

  "It's an assignment," Seren replied.

  "That's not the point," Lysa muttered. "You didn't even warn us properly."

  Mariel walked up more slowly, but the concern in her eyes was obvious.

  "How long this time?" she asked.

  "A few months," Seren said.

  Mariel sighed softly. "Which usually turns into half a year."

  Seren gave a small shrug. "Things take time."

  Lysa suddenly wrapped her arms around Seren in a tight hug.

  "You're horrible," she said into her shoulder. "You disappear whenever the kingdom needs fixing."

  Seren hesitated for a moment before returning the hug briefly.

  "I'll write," she said.

  "You'd better," Lysa replied, stepping back.

  Mariel leaned against the carriage door and studied Seren carefully.

  Then a slow smile appeared on her face.

  "Although..." she said.

  Seren already knew that tone.

  "No."

  Mariel ignored her. "The timing is interesting."

  Lysa immediately caught on.

  "Oh! Right!" she said, eyes lighting up. "The ball."

  Seren sighed quietly.

  "It was a dance," she said.

  "You never dance," Mariel replied.

  "He asked for one."

  "And you said yes," Lysa added.

  Seren raised an eyebrow. "It would have been rude to refuse."

  Mariel smirked. "You've refused far more important people."

  "That's different."

  "How?" Lysa asked.

  Seren opened the carriage door.

  "It simply is."

  Mariel tilted her head slightly.

  "You know," she said, "I've never seen anyone look at you like that before."

  Seren paused halfway into the carriage.

  "Like what?"

  "Like he forgot the rest of the room existed."

  Seren didn't answer.

  She stepped inside the carriage instead.

  Lysa knocked lightly on the window as the driver prepared to leave.

  "Come back soon," she said.

  Mariel added with a grin, "And if the eastern province happens to have a certain commander visiting..."

  Seren shut the window before she could finish.

  The carriage began to move.

  As the palace gates slowly faded behind her, Seren leaned back against the seat.

  For a brief moment, her mind drifted to the ballroom again-

  emerald velvet

  warm hands guiding the dance

  that quiet intensity in his eyes

  She exhaled softly.

  Then straightened.

  Irrelevant.