The valley of Oakhaven had spent the last five years basking in a profound, completely undisturbed era of peace.
When Valeria had forcefully rewritten the foundational registry of the planet and banished the original Architects to the freezing void of deep space, she had not simply paused a war. She had entirely fundamentally altered the cosmic parameters of Aethelgard. The heavy, suffocating dread that had defined the Warlord's early reign was permanently gone. The massive celestial steel walls that had once guarded the manor had been completely dismantled, replaced by sweeping, vibrant gardens of silver grass and blooming summer roses.
The planetary system was locked. The cosmic audit was cancelled. And the household was currently dealing with a completely unprecedented, highly localized biological crisis.
Toddlers.
Orion and Elara were officially five years old. They were the absolute, undisputed terrors of the new world.
