Marcella's face remained utterly unreadable, her tone cool as frost. "Thus, Nova Virelan's actions fall well within the boundaries of law."
"Shameless."
The word came sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade.
A second figure descended from the heavens, sky-green hair flowing as if carried by unseen winds. Her entire body shimmered faintly with emerald light, a rolling tide of elemental energy surrounding her like a living crown. She floated effortlessly beside Arabella and Duke Maximus Luminus, her very presence shifting the atmosphere.
Seraphina Faerelith.
Matriarch of the Faerelith household. The one the world called Queen of Spirits.
Unlike Arabella's taunting presence or Maximus's holy glow, Seraphina's aura was suffocating in its silence. She didn't waste words. She didn't need to. Her sharp eyes slid past Marcella and Nova without pause, locking instead onto her daughter... Sylva who still lay collapsed on the arena floor.
