Chapter 34 --34
Elara stood perfectly still, listening to her sisters’ taunts with the same expression she might use to observe interesting bacteria under glass.
The original owner of this body had hated these gatherings with visceral intensity. The diaries made that clear—pages of anguished writing about the humiliation, the casual cruelty, the way her sisters treated their knights like property while mocking her for refusing to participate. That princess would have been crying by now, or shouting, or fleeing the pavilion in shame.
But Elara wasn’t that princess.
She reached for her tea cup with deliberate calm, took a measured sip, and set it down with porcelain precision. Then she looked at Sera with the faintest smile.
"You’re right," she said quietly. "They are quite impressive."
Sera’s triumph lasted exactly two seconds.
"But really, Sister," Elara continued, still smiling that small, sad smile, "do you need to brag so much about warriors who can’t even last the night?"
The pavilion went dead silent.
Sera’s face drained of color. "What did you just—"
"Five hours sounds impressive until you realize that means he ’stopped’ after five hours," Elara said, tone remaining conversational. "Which suggests limitations, not stamina. If your bond is as perfect as you claim, why isn’t he capable of more?"
She turned to look at Eleana. "And here I thought you’d have something genuinely interesting to share. But this?" She gestured vaguely at the gathered princesses. "Aren’t you bored, Elder Sister? The same tired comparisons every year. The same predictable displays. It’s repetitive."
Eleana’s expression had gone very cold. "Well, perhaps you find it boring because you don’t have a bonded knight. It’s quite common for people to mock what they can’t have. Running away from the conversation is easier than admitting inadequacy."