The Extra is a Genius!?

Noel stood tall, breath even, mind focused.

The weight of the room hadn’t lessened—if anything, the air felt thicker now, colder.

"I know how to make a cure, Lady Vaelora," he said calmly, voice clear in the vast hall.

Vaelora tilted her head slightly.

A dangerous glint sparked in her ice-blue eyes.

"Oh?" she replied, her tone both amused and sharp. "Now that is interesting. But tell me—now that you’ve offered me this little piece of information... why shouldn’t I simply take the rest from you, just as you did with my daughter?"

Noel swallowed, throat tightening for a brief second.

’Good point... well played.’

But his face remained composed. He straightened his shoulders.

"Because I trust," he said steadily, eyes meeting hers, "that the great Lady Vaelora would never stoop to the level of a Thorne family disgrace."

A cold silence followed.