The first sunrise after the crisis arrived quietly. No emergency sirens.
No military alerts. No urgent security briefings. For the first time in months...
Valenridge woke to an ordinary morning.
The streets were already alive.
Children walked to school carrying oversized backpacks.
Shop owners rolled open metal shutters.
Delivery trucks rumbled through the capital.
Coffee shops filled with commuters discussing football instead of financial collapse. Life had begun again.
Inside the Presidential Palace, the atmosphere had changed just as dramatically.The corridors that had once echoed with hurried footsteps and whispered intelligence reports now felt almost peaceful. Staff members smiled at one another. Secretaries chatted without lowering their voices. Even the security officers looked more relaxed.
Sebastian stood in the Oval Conference Room, looking around the long table where so many impossible decisions had been made. It felt strange seeing it empty.
