Chapter 53: Graves of the Undead
The wind carried laughter — soft, youthful, full of life.
Annie was still a girl, her feet bare against the mossy earth as she chased Hanami between the trees.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, painting them both in dappled gold.
They ran side by side, carefree, their laughter echoing across the forest trail.
Hanami, a witch princess and daughter of the Queen, wore flowers braided in her long hair.
Her smile was radiant, untouchable. Beside her was her closest friend —
Annie, a girl not born of nobility, but accepted into the clan after losing her own family.
She didn't have royal blood, but she had loyalty. And love.
Trailing behind them was the third — a boy with a wild heart and reckless grin, the one who would one day marry Hanami.
The three of them were inseparable.
They did everything together — hunting, laughing, building dreams under the stars.