Chapter 26: New Beginnings

A month had slipped away since Eliana and Sebastian returned to the hallowed halls of Ravenwood. In the wake of the dramatic events in the king's court, an unsettling silence had fallen between them. It was as if the specter of their impending marriage, looming large and unspoken, had cast a shadow over their once-easy companionship. They navigated the vast mansion as ships passing in the night, polite yet distant.

Eliana, now the Duchess of Willowbrook, found herself lost in a whirlwind of responsibilities she had not anticipated. The weight of her new title pressed heavily on her shoulders, and she longed for Sebastian's counsel, his reassuring presence. But he remained elusive, consumed by his own duties as Duke of Ravenwood and, the puzzling affairs of the demon realm he so carefully concealed.