Broomflower Royal Capital, Prye City, deep within the royal palace, the Empress Dowager's private chambers.
Heavy velvet curtains sealed off the slightly glaring afternoon sunlight, leaving only the leaping firelight from the hearth to cast an unsteady warm glow over the costly carpets, silk draperies, and gold-inlaid furnishings.
Empress Dowager Katerina wore a deep-purple velvet morning gown, its long hem trailing across the lavish carpet. Unlike usual, she had not carefully dressed herself; her long golden hair fell somewhat disheveled over her shoulders. Her well-maintained face was now faintly twisted by rage, while deep shadows ringed her sunken eyes—the marks left by days of anxiety and sleeplessness.
Clutched tightly in her hand was a freshly delivered Northern Border Current Affairs Bulletin, still carrying the scent of ink, presented by a trusted palace attendant.
There, printed in bold type, was the news that made her blood surge the instant she saw it, nearly driving her to tear the paper apart: "Lord Karl von Schmidt of Carnford has formally announced the dissolution of his marriage to Her Highness the Princess. The ceremony was held publicly at Carnford Castle, witnessed by the upper ranks of the territory and members of the clergy..."
The Empress Dowager clenched her fingers, crumpling the fragile sheet into a wrinkled ball with a harsh creak. At last, she viciously kneaded it in her hands, as though she wanted to grind every word on it into dust.
"Divorce! How dare he! A petty Lord of the Northern Border, a nouveau riche who clawed his way up through luck and cunning—he dares... he dares divorce a princess of my Broomflower royal house?!"
This was not merely the dissolution of a marriage. It was naked humiliation, the most brazen trampling of royal dignity—a tearing away of the royal house's last shred