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Chapter 47: After The Music
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2026-06-14 11:04:47Morning arrived slowly after the ceremony. Not loudly. The palace seemed to wake with the exhausted softness of something that had spent all night alive. The grand ballroom below lay half-restored now beneath pale winter light spilling through towering windows. Hundreds of candles had burned themselves low overnight, leaving thin trails of smoke drifting faintly through the air while servants moved quietly between tables gathering abandoned wine glasses, folded napkins and wilted winter flo
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