Chapter 5: Place and time
"I’ve lived alone in this mansion long enough."
The words weren’t sentimental. Not truly.
They were delivered like strategy dressed in charm.
Lucas didn’t pull away from her hand, but he didn’t lean into it either.
"You don’t even know me," he said.
Serathine hummed. "No. But I know what kind of stories the court likes to rewrite. Better I write the next Chapter myself."
"That sounds like control."
"That sounds like protection," she corrected, her voice silk and stone. "Call it what you want. Either way, it buys you time."
He turned toward her then, meeting her eyes fully for the first time since they stepped into the estate.
"Time for what?"
"For the fallout. Misty had announced her marriage to Andrew Le Chattae. This is not something the court cares about, but she started to talk about you."
"Me?"