Suddenly, the ambient temperature of the street dropped by thirty degrees.
The giggling ceased instantly.
The ladies turned their heads, their pastel parasols dipping.
Marching toward the back of the line, towering over the crowd like a dark monolith of impending doom, was Duke Kaelus von Nacht.
He looked less like a nobleman attending an afternoon shopping trip and more like an ancient calamity that had recently learned how to walk upright.
The ladies collectively held their breath.
Kaelus walked straight toward the line.
Then—
He stopped.
He looked at the people waiting.
He looked at the shop.
He looked at the line again.
And calmly stepped into the back of it.
The Capital's nobility collectively experienced a minor existential crisis.
