[Lavinia's POV — Everheart Estate, Grand Hall, Moments Later]
The silence that followed my words was absolute.
The music had stopped mid-note, the air itself frozen as if the entire hall had forgotten how to breathe. Hundreds of eyes turned toward me—wide, startled, terrified. Even the chandeliers seemed to flicker in warning.
My heels clicked once against the marble. The sound echoed like thunder through the stillness.
"Your Highness—" someone began, voice trembling.
"Silence," I said softly.
It wasn't a shout. It didn't need to be.
The word carried the weight of a command born of imperial blood. And like puppets with their strings cut, every voice in the hall died.
I walked forward slowly—my gown trailing behind me like molten gold, my eyes fixed on the scene that had lit the fuse of my temper.
