Ah.
So this is what treason would look like in real time.
He may not have known it, nor had he intended it. But to the watching woman, considering what the chipmunk meant to her son, such careless audacity could only be branded as treason.
Empress Gisella's eyes narrowed, sharp as blades, her whole aura thrumming with murderous disbelief.
Of all the treacherous, foolhardy things she had ever seen—and she had lived through coups, assassination plots, and full-scale Federation infiltration—this one somehow felt more alarming.
Because right in front of her, some man, some attendant with dark hair and more gall than brains, was attempting to flirt with her son's beloved.
Her lips curled into a brittle smile.
In a way, she almost admired him. Almost.
That was a bold choice. Wrong choice, but bold.
But then again, if more and more people had this level of audacity, the Empire of Solaris would have collapsed long ago.
