The reaction did not arrive like a wave.
It arrived like pressure.
Subtle at first. Almost polite. It pressed against the edges of daily life, invisible unless you knew how to feel for it. Aria noticed it in the way people paused before speaking now, measuring not her authority but her availability. She noticed it in the timing of messages, in the sudden hesitations that replaced enthusiasm, and in the careful distance maintained by people who once leaned forward eagerly.
Being heard, she was learning, came with its own cost.
The morning after the forum, Palermo woke up louder than usual. News programs replayed the exchange from every angle. Editorials dissected her tone. Analysts debated whether she had disrupted governance or saved it from itself. Social commentary fractured into arguments that felt less about policy and more about permission.
Was she allowed to speak like that?
Was she allowed to stand there holding a child?
Was she allowed to refuse the script?
