Valerian Cross 29    

Days passed, and Stephany still hadn't left her room. The grand chambers of Lucien's castle, with its towering stone walls and crimson velvet drapes, felt more like a gilded cage than the sanctuary she had imagined.

Servants brought her meals in silence, their eyes carefully averted, as if even acknowledging her existence was a sin. She could feel their disdain, their reluctance. Whispers slithered through the halls—the human girl, the enemy's sister, the weakness of their master.

Meanwhile, Lucien was drowning in chaos outside her doors. The moment word spread of his relationship with a mortal, unrest swept through the Blood Mansion like wildfire. His most loyal subjects were wary, but it was his noble kin who posed the greatest threat.