Lilia was accelerating everything.
What should have taken weeks was being crushed into minutes, forcing events forward with no regard for whether anyone was ready. There was no room left to hesitate, no time to observe from a safe distance.
A decision had to be made—now.
The familiar sensation crept up my spine, the same one that always appeared right before a major battle in the game.
The air felt heavier, as if the world itself was waiting for an input command.
The scene overlapped in my mind: a battlefield map unfolding, allied icons flashing, warning indicators lighting up one after another.
Alice stood at the center of it all.
For her, the North—Draken—wasn't just territory or a title. It was her name, her blood, her reason for existing. Everything she was had been shaped to protect it.
Those who wear the crown, bear its weight.
The phrase had never felt more accurate.
She had endured quietly for years. Turned a blind eye to her fiancé's infidelity.
