Fragile Desires (18+) (GxG)

Twenty-Four | A Fundamental Shift

The scent of aged leather and unspoken expectations clung heavy in the air of the study.

Sunlight slanted through the tall windows, illuminating the ornately carved desk where a single document lay—a stark white island on a sea of polished mahogany. 

It wasn't a long document, yet the weight of each word pressed down on me like a physical presence.

This was it. 

The signing ceremony, a shiny cage built of ink and parchment. 

Eighteen, and with a single stroke of the pen, my fate would be sealed. 

Queen Azura. 

The title felt foreign on my tongue, a label I hadn't chosen but was expected to wear with grace.

My parents sat across from me, their faces holding pride and a hint of sadness I couldn't decipher. 

Commitment. 

The word felt hollow in my mouth, knowing that this was what I was actively doing.

I would be committed to being crowned Queen at the ripe age of twenty-one. 

 I looked down at the document, the elegant script blurring before my eyes. 

My childhood dreams, filled with adventures beyond the palace walls, seemed to fade with each passing second.

A lump formed in my throat. 

The question, a fragile butterfly defying the weight of tradition, remained unspoken. 

Picking up the heavy pen, its smooth surface cool against my skin.

It felt like a shell had formed around me, a symbol of the life laid out before me. 

As I signed my name on the dotted line, the ink seemed to bleed not just onto the paper, but onto my very soul, a permanent reminder of the choice I had no option but to make.

The weight of the pen echoed the weight of the crown, a constant presence that would forever remind me of the day I signed away a part of myself.

- Azzy

♛Chapter Twenty-Four: A Fundamental Shift♛

The morning came slow—painstakingly slow.

Especially with my anticipation to see Renata.

I had concluded that I was mostly returning the necklace just to see her.

But the necklace was the most reasonable excuse to show up on a Sunday morning when I had clear knowledge of our meeting on Monday.

I drew in a deep nervous breath as I analyzed my appearance in the mirror.

The cream-white dress seemed to tug at my curves as it spilled down to my lower thighs and covered my chest up to my neck.