Last night still clung to me like a stubborn shadow. Even after I dropped Meera near her house, her image refused to leave me. The way she had looked over her shoulder one last time, her face half-lit by the moonlight, still hovered in my mind long after I turned back towards the palace. I told myself it was nothing. A fleeting thought, a simple courtesy of walking someone home. Nothing more.

But then I had gone back to the quiet halls of the palace, and instead of resting, I sat at my desk, the lantern burning low, and pulled out the files. Prince Rudra had ordered me to prepare a report about the whereabouts and what happened to Saanvi ji in the last year, but I hesitated.