[Lavinia's POV]
[Everheart Banquet Hall—Seconds After the Silence]
It lasted for only a moment.
A flicker.
That glacial coldness in Osric's eyes—sharp, unfamiliar—locked with mine like winter testing the waters of spring.
And then… it vanished.
In the next breath, his gaze warmed. The frost melted. And he smiled—faintly, politely. Almost too quickly. Almost like it had never happened.
But I saw it.
I know I saw it.
…Right?
"Did I imagine that?" I muttered under my breath, blinking as if my lashes could scrub away uncertainty.
Applause rippled across the banquet hall like a perfectly rehearsed overture. Polished nobles clapped—delicate gloves muffling sound into elegance, fans fluttering like painted butterflies.The orchestra struck up a note—light, regal, charmingly harmless.
But my heart was still stuck on that one cold breath.
Was I the only one who noticed?
