[Lavinia's Pov]
Osric's question still hung in the air like the ghost of a dagger not thrown.
"Why do you need information about Elaenia, Lavi?"
I didn't answer at first.
I couldn't.
Because how was I supposed to explain it? That something about her—her background, her very presence—itched beneath my skin like an invisible thread pulling at the seams of the Empire. That a girl meant to be adopted by the Marquess Everett ended up in Count Talvan's manor under a new name with a rewritten past?
That wasn't fate.
That was manipulation.
But I said none of this.
Osric's gaze stayed on me—steady, unreadable, waiting.
"Do you…" he began again, slower this time, "do you find something unusual in her?"
Still, I didn't speak.
Marshi flicked his tail, sensing the tension like an aristocrat detecting scandal. Solena fluffed her wings once and tilted her sharp golden head toward me, quiet and watchful like a divine witness to truth not yet spoken.
