"What do you mean, Lady Alexandria?" Florian asked slowly, his voice calm but wary, eyes flicking from her serene face to the butterflies circling lazily around him.
Their soft glow painted blue trails through the air, like harmless spirits dancing under sunlight—but now, they felt like something else entirely.
"They are poisonous," Alexandria replied smoothly, her tone matter-of-fact, as if discussing the weather. She took another sip of tea and smiled. "Actually, I have something of a...strange hobby. Or rather, a fascination. Poisons. Potions. Toxins, in all their forms."
Florian's spine stiffened slightly.
"It's something I stumbled upon in the library," she continued, casually brushing a crumb from her lap. "There was a section with dusty tomes from Concordia's royal court—a surprising number of entries described glowing butterflies. Not just as rare magical creatures, but as insects carefully bred... for poison harvesting."
