Chapter 174: Lucas has teeth.
Lucas didn’t get a moment to respond before a familiar shadow loomed too close to ignore.
"Your Grace," purred a voice soaked in old money and political desperation. "May I say how pleased we are to see you in such... radiant form."
The man smiling down at him was Count Elison Moor, the type who shook hands like contracts and wore his titles heavier than his conscience. He bowed with a flourish entirely too theatrical for a brunch table.
Lucas gave him a polite nod, just this side of cold. "Count Moor."
"Your reputation precedes you," Moor continued, eyes gleaming. "In fact, I believe it’s been preceding you through half the court since the engagement was announced. Everyone is quite curious about the final ceremony. And the absence of clergy... well, it’s inspired some rather interesting speculation."
He didn’t pause long enough for a response, just forged ahead, smile too slick, too certain.
"I’ve heard a particular rumor," he said, lowering his voice just enough to feign intimacy, though others were clearly still listening. "That you’re a dominant omega. It would make sense, of course. His Grace, the Grand Duke, is a dominant alpha. Such... arrangements are rare, but not without precedent."
His gaze dipped, slow and unpleasant, dragging across Lucas like a man used to purchasing people instead of earning respect. "That would explain the absence of a collar, wouldn’t it?"
Lucas didn’t blink.
He set his teacup down with slow, deliberate care, with just enough pause to draw every nearby ear a little closer.
Cressida’s smile didn’t falter, but her fingers went still around her glass.
Across the table, the countess with the lace gloves stopped pretending to eat.