Louisa’s expression softened, carrying both fondness and mild bewildernt.
"That is precisely the interesting part," she said. "In an age of mana and magic — when every family of power is cultivating, training, competing for ranks and titles based on their children’s power — my sister decided she wanted to be a scholar."
Julian raised a brow. "A scholar."
"A scholar," Louisa confird. "History, languages, old texts, dead civilizations. She has apparently read more books than most libraries contain and can discuss about the kingdoms that ceased to exist four hundred years ago."
"And the mana?" Julian asked.
"Average," Louisa said, without apology. "She is perfectly aware of it and completely unbothered by it. She says that mana fades with ti but knowledge compounds." She paused. "I told her that was very easy to say when you weren’t in a duel."
Julian smiled.
"What did she say to that?" he said.
"She said she had no intention of getting into a duel," Louisa replied, "and that anyone who did was probably the kind of person she wanted to stay away from."
Julian laughed. He was genuinely interested in this sister of her.
Louisa’s dark eyes locked onto his, carrying a perfect mix of warmth and satisfaction. She had gotten exactly the reaction she wanted. Her lips parted slightly as she watched him laugh, the flush from earlier still faintly visible on her cheeks, making her look softer... and far more tempting.
"She sounds," Julian said once his laugh settled, "like soone who has thought about the world very carefully and reached conclusions most people never do."
"She has," Louisa said simply, her voice dropping a little lower. "Whether those conclusions are practical... that’s another question entirely."
"Practical is overrated," Julian said.
Louisa raised a brow, the amusent still present in her eyes. "Says the young man who burned one of my husband’s soldiers alive in a castle corridor yesterday."
The words arrived pleasantly, in exactly the sa warm tone as everything that had preceded them. But the intention behind it was entirely clear.
Complete silence fell over the corridor.
The Duke behind them went very still. Marcus looked at his mother with the expression of soone who had not been prepared for this and was now quietly trying to decide whether his face was reacting appropriately.
Liam continued walking for two more steps before slowing, his back to the conversation.
Julian looked at Louisa.
She looked back at him calmly as if she hadn’t just poured fuel into the fire.
Julian held her gaze.
He let the silence exist, then he said in a tone that matched hers precisely: "He said sothing that required a response. I responded."
"Yes," Louisa said. "I heard."
"And?" Julian said.
She tilted her head slightly. "I simply wanted to see how you received it when soone said it to your face without anger or accusation." A brief pause. "n who act from genuine conviction receive it differently from n who acted from impulse and are managing the consequences."
"And which did I act from?" Julian said.
She looked at him for a mont.
"Conviction," she said simply.
Julian held her gaze.
"The response was necessary," he smiled. "I would make the sa choice again under the sa circumstances."
Louisa said nothing.
"And I will say this as well," Julian continued, his voice remaining entirely even. He glanced briefly at Marcus, then back at her. "I am quite certain Marcus would do the sa if he heard soone speak about you like that Aunt Louisa, in that tone, in that corridor."
He looked at the young man directly.
"Wouldn’t you."
Marcus looked at him.
The young man straightened slightly. He could feel himself caught in the tension between his parents and his cousin, each of them waiting for sothing from him that he was not entirely sure how to give.
"Yes..." Marcus said finally, the words tumbling out awkwardly. "I would."
Louisa looked at her son. There was a mild annoyance in her eyes as if she had noticed exactly what was happening. She had been trying to test Kraven, to draw him out, to see how the man who had returned from exile would respond under pressure—but instead, he neatly shifted the focus onto Marcus, using him almost like a shield between himself and the question.
She looked back at Kraven.
"That was well done," she said quietly, appreciating him nonetheless.
Liam finally turned around. He looked at Kraven over his wife’s shoulder.
"She does that," he said, with a tone that was entirely mild. "Don’t take it personally, nephew."
"I don’t," Julian said.
Liam looked at him for a mont longer. Then he turned back toward the hall and resud walking.
"Co," he said pleasantly. "Let’s sit down. I believe there is breakfast worth eating and a great deal worth discussing."
Julian followed.
Behind him the Duke exhaled quietly.
Julian walked into the hall and thought about Louisa, her sharp pleasant voice and her sister who read books in libraries and watched duels from windows.
He thought about the day ahead.
It is going to be a long one.
**
The dining hall was already prepared and properly set. Morning light stread through the tall windows, spilling over the long table.
A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling at the center of the room, its warm golden glow reflecting softly off the neatly arranged utensils and glassware.
The Duke moved to the head of the table and sat.
The seat to his imdiate right remained empty. Olivia had not appeared — she was perhaps sowhere in the castle, still preparing for the king’s arrival.
Liam took the seat to the Duke’s left. Louisa settled beside him and Marcus took the chair next to his mother.
Julian pulled out the chair beside the empty seat and sat.
He was directly across the table from Liam.
The seating had ford a quiet hierarchy, one that reflected the current state of the duchy without needing to be spoken aloud. The Duke at the head, his brother to his left, his son to his right with an empty chair between them where his wife would have been.
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