[Imperial Palace—Three Years Later—Palace Grounds—Lavinia's Pov]
Pour.
The attendant filled three porcelain cups with steaming tea, careful and precise. No—she was definitely not Sera. Sera, at the moment, was far too busy blushing like she'd just been accused for romantic treason.
"After becoming the Countess," she said with a dramatic sigh, fingers nervously circling the rim of her cup, "Father finally agreed to my marriage with Rey."
She paused, then added quietly, "…It was very hard to convince him."
I raised an eyebrow. Eleania's lips twitched.
"Hard?" Eleania echoed innocently, sipping her tea. "That's one way to put it."
Sera groaned and hid half her face behind her cup. "I still can't believe—Rey laid flat on the marble floor. Fully. Face-down. On my coronation day."
I burst out laughing.
Eleania nearly choked on her tea. "Face-down?" she repeated, eyes wide. "As in—"
