Mia blinked at the remark, her throat tightening. "I…"
Lucas cut in smoothly, his tone even but threaded with quiet authority. "Let's not scare her in the first ten seconds."
That earned the faintest twitch of Serathine's mouth, a flash of approval in her amber eyes, while Cressida's gaze narrowed as if weighing the correction. But Lucas stood steady, unbothered, the crystal clarity of his intent unmistakable.
Mia was there intentionally, because once Christopher was crowned queen of Saha, Mia would no longer be just "Mia from the group chat." She would be the queen's sister, easy prey for whispers, pressure, or worse. Lucas knew it, and so he had made the choice himself: to walk her straight into the jaws of power now, at his side, where his presence was a shield she could not be denied.
He angled his head toward her, just enough for Mia to catch the flicker of reassurance in his eyes. "You'll do fine," he murmured, soft enough that only she heard.
