Beyond expectations

The days that followed in Latora were in one word, tranquil.

With the precise moment of her sister's reunion still unknown, Adela cherished the peaceful moments she and Egon shared in a place he deemed theirs. The white sands that once spurned Healers and claimed an ancestor of House von Conradie now paradoxically offered the Archduke and the Archduchess a surplus of serenity.

Each morning began with a leisurely breakfast in the courtyard of Egon's estate, where the scent of desert blooms mingled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Theirs was a simple joy they had been deprived of—each other's company. Finally, they had the time to engage in basic conversations and share laughter that the desert breeze carried throughout the ivory walls.

The lovers had led vastly different lives throughout the years that had separated them, but the one thing they had in common was that they had missed each other terribly.