Evelina felt a surge of cold, analytical calculation. She couldn't admit it was Conrad. She couldn't explain that they were discussing profit margins and grain supplies. But she didn't have to. She had a more powerful weapon standing right next to her.
The Duchess Valerius stepped forward. Her presence was like a sudden frost that silenced every voice in the room. She didn't need to yell; her posture alone radiated the authority of centuries of noble blood. The "Ice Duchess" was famous for her silence, which made her words, when they came, feel like imperial decrees.
"Lady Isabella," the Duchess said. Her voice was low, smooth and cut through Isabella's frantic sobbing like a hot knife through wax. "I suggest you choose your words with extreme care from this moment forward. I am still standing here and my patience for theatrics is quite thin today."
The silence that followed was absolute. Even the fans in every ladies hand stopped moving.
