Valerie's POV
The council hall stood at the center of the main house.
A place I had only ever entered once before.
And that time…
I wasn't allowed to lift my head.
I still remembered it clearly.
The cold marble floor beneath my knees.
The weight of their gazes.
The way my father stood alone in the center, surrounded by men who had already decided his fate before he spoke a single word.
My chest tightened with pain and grief.
However, I pushed the memory down.
Now was not the time.
I stood at the entrance, my posture straight and my chin lifted.
The guard by the door glanced at me briefly before pushing it open.
"Luna Valerie," he announced.
The title echoed inside the hall.
I wasn't exactly proud of it. But I had to endure for now.
I stepped into the hall without hesitation. I wasn't going to let them catch a weakness in me.
The council hall was just as I remembered.
Large and imposing.
Designed to make anyone who entered feel small.
