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In the heart of the Golden Empire, the bells of the Eternal Palace rang for the first time in a century. The "Imperial Selection" had begun.

"You don't need a wife to decorate your throne," she whispered, her palms glowing with the cold, steady light of the North. "You need a pillar to help you hold up the sky." In the heart of the Golden Empire, the

Valerius, eyes like molten gold, stepped down from the dais. He didn't take her ribbon. Instead, he took her hand, and for the first time in decades, the palace floor stopped trembling. The Selection was over, but the reign of the Jade Rose had just begun. " she whispered