"I feel like with all the tension in the air, we've forgotten to properly acknowledge the lovely princesses before us," Andrew said suddenly, breaking the relative peace of the table. He raised his goblet in a performative gesture, voice oozing with faux charm. "I have yet to hear them grace us with their voices. The lovely harem members of His Majesty."
Florian barely kept his expression neutral as a chill crawled down his spine. The smile Andrew flashed toward the princesses was far from polite—it was predatory.
He remembered their first meeting too well.
Andrew had cornered him in the rose garden during his first week in the palace—his eyes like a snake's, tongue just as slick.
He had tried to seduce him, to touch him, to press his boundaries. When Florian rejected him and Lucius stepped in, Andrew's demeanor changed instantly. Suddenly, Florian was "ugly" and "unworthy of attention." Just like that.
