The morning light spills softly over Elaris, turning the palace gardens into a wash of gold and green as Prince Caelan Aurelbloom moves quietly along the stone path. Dew clings to the petals around him, and each step he takes seems to leave the air a little lighter, as if the world is waking more gently in his presence. He kneels beside a bed of pale blue blossoms that have begun to wilt overnight, his fingers brushing carefully through the leaves as he studies them with quiet focus.

A faint glow gathers in his palm—soft, warm, and golden—before he lets it drift into the soil like sunlight sinking into earth. The flowers respond almost immediately, lifting their heads as color returns to their petals, as if they were never fading at all. Caelan doesn’t smile broadly; instead, a small, calm expression settles on his face, satisfied in the quiet way of someone who prefers actions over words.

Lumi, his Rosetail Fox companion, darts between the hedges nearby, pausing now and then to watch him with bright, curious eyes. The prince glances up briefly, as if checking on her, then returns his attention to the garden, gently adjusting a vine that has grown slightly off its trellis. Around him, the entire space feels still but alive—birds settling closer than usual, flowers opening a little wider, the air itself seeming calmer.

From the distant balcony of Blossom Palace, servants sometimes say the same thing without fail: whenever Prince Caelan tends the gardens at dawn, it feels less like watching a prince at work and more like watching spring itself decide to stay.