The manor was transformed before sunrise.

Servants polished the marble floors until they gleamed. Silverware was inspected twice. Crimson banners bearing the snake crest appeared in every hall.

A raven had arrived with news.

The Duke and Duchess of Bonaventura would reach the estate by midday the following day.

Ezekiel watched the preparations from the landing above the great hall.

Rue stood beside him.

“Everyone seems terrified.”

“Your grandparents are intense.”

“Are they like Mother?”

Rue nearly laughed.

“No. They smile more.”

“That is reassuring.”

“It should not be.”

That night, Ezekiel could not sleep.

He thought about the grandparents waiting to meet him. About the father buried somewhere beyond the manor. About the Emperor who had torn his family apart.

When sleep finally came, it carried him somewhere else.

He stood in a garden drenched in golden afternoon light. Roses crowded the paths, and a marble fountain murmured beneath an old elm tree.

A man with shoulder-length purple hair stood beneath its branches.

Ermes.

Ezekiel knew him instantly.

A younger Lanastha stood opposite him in a simple white dress. Her crimson eyes were softer than Ezekiel had ever seen them.

Ermes reached into his coat.

“I wish we could always be together.”

He revealed a silver ring set with a small purple stone.

Nothing extravagant.

Nothing imperial.

Only a promise.

Lanastha stared at it.

Then she laughed.

The sound was bright and unguarded.

“Yes!”

She threw her arms around him.

“Yes, you idiot. Of course I will.”

Ermes slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her beneath the elm tree.

Ezekiel woke with tears on his cheeks.

Morning light streamed through the curtains.

He pressed a hand against his chest.

He had never imagined his mother could laugh that way.

The memory had felt too vivid to be an ordinary dream.

Rue entered after knocking once.

“You are awake. Good. We have six hours to make you presentable.”

Ezekiel barely heard him.

“I saw my father.”

Rue stopped.

“He proposed to Mother in the garden. She wore white. The ring had a purple stone.”

For once, Rue looked unsettled.

“It felt real.”

Rue studied his face.

Then he released a slow breath.

“Your bloodline gift has awakened.”

“What gift?”

“The Bonaventuras see memories in dreams. Sometimes the past. Sometimes possible futures.”

Ezekiel stared at him.

“So it happened?”

“If you saw it clearly, yes.”

His heart tightened.

“She loved him.”

Rue’s voice softened.

“She still does.”