Chapter 861: Probing...(2)
Valeria stood still amid the shifting circle, the low murmur of voices coiling and unraveling like silk around her ankles. The air, which had felt warm only moments ago—thick with the scent of wine and flickering candlelight—now seemed cooler. Still. As though holding its breath.
Isolde.
The name had floated ahead of her, like perfume in a closed room. And now, here she stood—slender, poised, framed in the elegant halo of the chandelier above. Her hair shimmered like spun platinum, curling softly at the ends. Her gown—a deep lavender offset with silver-threaded lace—clung and fell in all the right places, modest and regal, yet impossible to ignore.
She was beautiful.
Undeniably so.
Valeria watched her with a gaze that neither narrowed nor warmed—simply studied. The girl reminded her of something carved. Not marble, like most of the court would say. No, Isolde had the softness of porcelain. A painted delicacy. Smooth lines, effortless movement. Not fragile—but composed in a way that gave the illusion of gentleness.
A doll.
That was the word that surfaced in Valeria’s mind as she watched Isolde’s fingers move—light and practiced as she folded them in front of her. As if the world was something she’d been trained to hold, and would never drop.
And everyone else felt it too.
They leaned in. Smiled wider. Even the tension in the more unruly nobles lessened, their posture unconsciously shifting to accommodate the presence that had graced them.
Valeria didn’t feel threatened.
Not in the way Jesse made her feel. Jesse had storm-wind in her. Unpredictable. Crackling. A step too close to shatter. But this girl?