"How is this possible?!" Princess Lenavira exclaimed, her composed demeanor cracking for the first time as genuine shock washed over her face. Her eyes were fixed on the second line of the monolith, where the name Alice Phoenixheart now glowed with an undeniable brilliance, etched beside the rare few who had been deemed worthy by the Pillar of Divine Appraisal.
For a moment, even she—calm, poised, and ever-graceful—stood frozen in disbelief. She had always known Alice was strong, especially after watching her progress since her arrival on the tenth floor, but to see her name ascend to the second line so swiftly, so decisively, was beyond what she had anticipated.
Lenavira had reached that very line herself, but it had come with years of training, immense pressure, and the full nurturing of her royal lineage. To see another name appear there—so soon after hers—was something that sent tremors down even her spine.
