After Athea had called out to the eavesdropper, who she wholeheartedly believed was none other than her daughter Viora, no one came out immediately.
There was no sound for a moment, then Viora emerged from behind the pillar, her movements fluid and silent. She didn't look like a child caught eavesdropping; she looked like a Warlady who had just confirmed the location of her target.
Her ice-blue eyes, so much like Athea's own, held no fear, only a cold, unwavering certainty and a look of profound betrayal. And she felt that way, too. If her mother really had a secret son, then she had betrayed not only the Queendom but the entire matriarchal order.
The scary part was that, if the Tribunal and other Queendoms found out about this, then the stability of the entire Lumina line would shatter, and their family would be ruined.
Calyra let out a soft sigh swirling the wine she had carried from the dinner table in her glass as if she were a mere spectator at a courtly drama.
