The midsummer festival brought a rare sense of true merriment to Highcrest Castle. As the golden light of te afternoon streamed through the high windows of the great hall, diplomats from Verrath mingled with Eastwatch nobles, their previous tensions dissolved into ughter and animated conversation. At the center of it all stood Luca, his lean frame now dressed in the formal attire of a royal diplomat, his easy confidence and thoughtful words drawing listeners close.

  Six months had passed since King Edric had appointed him special envoy to Verrath, and even the most skeptical members of court could not deny his extraordinary success. What had begun as a desperate negotiation during food shortages had blossomed into a robust trade alliance. Verrath's metal and stone now flowed into the kingdom, while Luca's agricultural innovations had not only saved Verrath from starvation but doubled their harvest yields.

  "They're calling him the 'Wisdom of Highcrest' in Verrath," Lord Terrence remarked to King Edric as they observed from the dais. "Their council has apparently commissioned a portrait to hang in their meeting hall."

  King Edric nodded, his expression thoughtful as he studied the man his daughter loved. "And what do you call him, Terrence? You were among his fiercest critics when I appointed him."

  Lord Terrence had the grace to look slightly abashed. "I was wrong, Your Majesty. The man has talents I failed to recognize beneath his... humble origins."

  "Indeed." The king's eyes drifted to where Princess Lilith stood across the hall, her gaze fixed on Luca with undisguised pride. Though they maintained their public distance as agreed, Edric had permitted their private meetings to continue, initially under the pretext of diplomatic pnning. Over months, he had gradually loosened the restrictions, impressed by Luca's integrity and diplomatic skill.

  What had begun as a reluctant compromise had evolved into genuine respect. Though he would never admit it publicly, King Edric had begun to consider what had once seemed unthinkable—that perhaps this commoner might indeed be worthy of his daughter.

  In a quiet corner of the garden, away from the ongoing festivities, Lilith and Luca walked slowly through the fragrant rose arbor, finally able to steal a few moments alone.

  "You were magnificent today," Lilith said, her fingers brushing against his as they walked. "Even Lord Brennan was nodding along to your speech."

  Luca ughed softly. "Lord Brennan nodded off during my speech. But I count that as a victory over open hostility."

  "Father says the Verrath ambassador requested you specifically for the autumn trade summit." She paused beneath a trellis heavy with climbing roses. "You've accomplished more in six months than most diplomats achieve in a decade."

  "I had proper motivation," he replied, his voice softening as he finally dared to take her hand fully in his. The touch sent a familiar warmth through her, even after all these months. "Everything I've done has been to prove myself worthy in your father's eyes."

  Lilith squeezed his hand fiercely. "You've always been worthy in mine."

  "And yet," he said with a small smile, "I find I want to be worthy in his as well. Not just for us, but for the kingdom." He gestured vaguely toward the castle. "What we've built with Verrath—it matters, Lilith. It's saved lives."

  She studied his face in the fading golden light, seeing the passion that animated his features when he spoke of his work. This was part of why she loved him—his genuine desire to improve the world, not merely to win her hand.

  "I believe he's coming around," she said after a moment. "Yesterday, he asked what I thought of a spring ceremony."

  Luca's eyes widened. "He did?"

  "He posed it as a hypothetical, of course," she said with a ugh, "but he's never even acknowledged the possibility before."

  Hope blossomed between them, fragile but real. After months of patience and restraint, the future they dreamed of seemed finally within reach.

  Neither of them noticed the shadowed figure watching from a castle window above, his face twisted with contempt.

  Three nights ter, Luca worked te in his quarters, studying maps of the eastern bordernds for the upcoming trade route negotiations. His small apartment within the castle, provided by King Edric for his diplomatic work, was modest but comfortable, filled with books, charts, and the various pnts he studied to improve crop yields.

  A soft knock at his door drew him from his concentration.

  "Enter," he called, expecting the castle steward with the evening meal he'd requested.

  Instead, Lord Brennan stepped into the room, followed by two other men Luca recognized as minor nobles who had opposed the Verrath treaty. The tension in their postures immediately put him on alert.

  "Lord Brennan," Luca said carefully, rising from his desk. "This is an unexpected visit."

  "I imagine it is," Brennan replied, his voice slurring slightly. The smell of wine wafted from him as he stepped closer. "The commoner who thinks he can rise above his station. The peasant who whispers in the king's ear. The... nobody who dares to reach for a princess."

  Luca kept his voice level. "I serve the kingdom as the king commands. Nothing more."

  "Don't insult my intelligence," Brennan spat. "Everyone sees how she looks at you. Everyone knows what you're pnning." He stepped closer, towering over Luca. "Did you truly believe we would allow a princess of royal blood to be tainted by the likes of you?"

  Luca assessed his options quickly. Three against one, in close quarters. The men were armed; he was not. The door behind them was the only exit.

  "Lord Brennan, you're intoxicated. Whatever grievance you believe you have, this is not the way to address it. Let us speak when you're clear-headed."

  "Oh, I'm quite clear on what needs to be done," Brennan replied. He nodded to the men behind him. "Make sure he can never climb into the princess's bed again."

  The first blow caught Luca in the stomach, doubling him over. He fought back with desperation, managing to nd a solid punch on one attacker before the other two overwhelmed him. A heavy strike to his head sent him crashing into his desk, maps and books scattering across the floor.

  Through the haze of pain, he heard Brennan's voice: "Not the face. Nothing visible."

  What followed was methodical, calcuted brutality. They targeted his legs first, the sound of breaking bones punctuated by Luca's stifled screams. When he could no longer stand, they continued their assault on his prone form, focusing on his spine and hands.

  The final blow came when Brennan knelt beside him, producing a small vial from his tunic.

  "A gift from an alchemist in the southern isles," he whispered, forcing Luca's eyelids open as he let drops fall into each eye. "So you'll never again look upon what you cannot have."

  The burning agony that followed eclipsed all previous pain, darkness flooding in as Luca's world disappeared forever. His st coherent thought before consciousness fled was of Lilith, and the sunset he would never see again.

  "Where is he?" Lilith demanded, her voice echoing through the council chamber as dawn broke over the castle. "He missed our morning meeting, and his quarters are empty."

  King Edric frowned, concern etching lines in his face. "The guards report he didn't pass any of the main gates yesterday evening. Captain, organize a search of the castle grounds immediately."

  They found him in the old well courtyard, his broken body discarded like refuse, barely clinging to life. As the royal physician worked frantically to stabilize him, Lilith remained at his side, her face a mask of anguish and rage.

  "Who did this?" she demanded of anyone who would listen. "Who would dare?"

  The answer came three days ter, when a castle maid testified to seeing Lord Brennan and two companions entering Luca's quarters on the night of the attack. By then, the physician had delivered his grim assessment: Luca would survive, but he would never walk unaided again. His spine had been damaged in ways that could not be repaired. His hands, once so deft with pen and tool, were now twisted and weak. And most devastating of all, the unknown substance had destroyed his eyes, leaving him in permanent darkness.

  Justice was swift and merciless. King Edric, enraged at the assault in his own castle, sentenced Lord Brennan to execution and his accomplices to lifelong imprisonment. The nobility watched in shock as the king's procmation made clear that an attack on the royal envoy was tantamount to treason.

  But no punishment could undo the damage. Luca y in the royal infirmary, his world transformed into an endless night, his body a ndscape of pain. For the first time since she had known him, his brilliant mind seemed dimmed, unable to find a path forward through his suffering.

  "You should go," Luca whispered, turning his face away as Lilith entered his chamber three weeks after the attack. "Please, Lilith. I cannot bear for you to see me like this."

  She moved to his bedside, taking his damaged hand gently in hers. "I am not here out of pity."

  "Then why?" His voice broke. "Look at me. I am ruined. I cannot walk. I cannot see. I cannot even hold a quill to write. Everything I was—schor, diplomat, advisor—it's gone."

  "Is that all you were?" she asked softly.

  "What else remains?"

  "Everything that matters." She sat on the edge of his bed, her voice fierce with conviction. "Your mind. Your heart. Your courage. Your soul." She pced his hand against her cheek. "The man I love."

  "I have nothing to offer you now," he said, anguish evident in every word. "Nothing to offer the kingdom."

  "You still have everything to offer," she insisted. "Your intelligence didn't reside in your legs. Your wisdom wasn't in your eyes. Your value to me—to all of us—was never in what you could physically do."

  He turned his face toward her voice, his sightless eyes red-rimmed from tears he could no longer shed. "I don't know how to be this new person. I don't know how to live in darkness."

  "Then we will learn together," she said simply. "Every day. For as long as it takes."

  In the weeks that followed, Lilith became his constant companion, rearranging her royal duties to spend hours at his side. She read to him from the schorly works he loved, held one-sided debates until he couldn't help but respond with counter-arguments, and described the changing seasons outside his window until he began to see through her words.

  Slowly, painfully, Luca began to find his way back. First came acceptance of what could not be changed. Then came adaptation—learning to navigate by sound and touch, to write by dictation, to strengthen the body that remained functional despite its limitations.

  King Edric watched his daughter's unwavering devotion with growing admiration. He had expected her passion for the commoner to fade when faced with the harsh reality of his disabilities. Instead, her love had only deepened, revealing a strength of character that impressed even him.

  Three months after the attack, he summoned Lilith to his private study.

  "The Verrath delegation arrives next week," he said without preamble. "They've specifically requested Luca's presence at the negotiations."

  Lilith shook her head. "He's not ready, Father. He can barely leave his room without exhaustion."

  "I know." The king paced before the firepce. "But his absence threatens the alliance he built. The Verrathians trust him implicitly." He paused, studying his daughter's face. "Unless..."

  "Unless what?"

  "Unless he had a proxy. Someone who has studied his methods, who knows his mind, who could speak with his authority."

  Understanding dawned in Lilith's eyes. "You mean me."

  "You've spent every day with him these past months. I've seen the documents you've been studying together, heard the strategies you've developed. The question is: can you represent his vision accurately, without imposing your own?"

  "I can," she said with quiet confidence. "And more importantly, together we can serve the kingdom better than either could alone."

  The king nodded slowly. "Then propose it to him. If he agrees, you will attend the negotiations as his voice, with my full authorization."

  It became their first colboration as true partners. Each morning, Lilith and Luca would strategize for hours, his mind as sharp as ever once freed from self-pity. She would then bring his insights to the negotiation table, her royal authority combining with his diplomatic approach to create a formidable presence.

  The Verrath delegates, initially skeptical, soon recognized Luca's distinctive reasoning in Lilith's presentations. By the summit's end, the alliance was stronger than ever, with new trade routes established and educational exchanges pnned between the kingdoms.

  When King Edric witnessed their success, something fundamental shifted in his thinking. He had always believed power came from traditional strength, from the established order of things. Yet here was evidence of something different—a power that emerged from vulnerability transformed into wisdom, from limitations overcome through partnership.

  On the final evening of the summit, he called them both to the throne room after the delegates had departed.

  "I have watched," he said slowly, "as you turned tragedy into triumph. I have seen how your combined strengths create something greater than either could achieve alone." He stepped down from the dais, standing before them as a father rather than a king. "And I have decided that such a union should not exist merely in diplomatic functions."

  Lilith's breath caught. "Father?"

  "I will sanction your marriage," he said, his voice gruff with emotion he rarely dispyed. "Not because I have been worn down, or because circumstances force my hand, but because you have proven yourselves worthy of each other—and worthy of the future of this kingdom."

  Luca, leaning heavily on the cane that now supported him, bowed his head. "Your Majesty... I don't know what to say."

  "Say you will serve this kingdom with the same devotion you have shown my daughter," the king replied. "Say you will bring your unique perspective to the challenges we face. Say you will accept that your value was never in your physical abilities, but in your character and mind."

  "I swear it," Luca said, his voice steady despite the tears tracking down his cheeks.

  The spring wedding was unlike any the kingdom had seen before. Rather than hiding Luca's disabilities, Lilith insisted they be acknowledged openly. He stood at the altar with his twisted body supported by an ornate cane crafted by the kingdom's finest artisans—not a symbol of weakness, but of survival and adaptation.

  When Lilith described the ceremony for him—the flowers, the sunlight through the stained gss, the expressions on the gathered faces—he saw it all through her words, his imagination painting pictures his eyes no longer could.

  "And what do you see when you look at me?" he asked softly as they shared their first dance, her strength guiding his limited movements.

  "I see the man who taught me that true sight comes from the heart," she replied. "I see a future where our differences make us stronger together, not weaker apart." She pressed her forehead to his. "I see love that transcends all boundaries."

  As they moved slowly across the floor, the court watched in wonder as princess and commoner, sighted and blind, powerful and broken, became something new together—a union that defied categorization but promised a future built on compassion, intelligence, and unbreakable devotion.

  The gods, who had long ignored the affairs of mortals, took notice of a love that refused to be diminished by tragedy. And in their eternal realms, the first seeds of interest—and perhaps jealousy—began to take root.