The door slammed shut with a firm click, its sound echoing through the room as if it had its own weight.
Aria was the first to breathe—a long, exaggerated, dramatic sigh that seemed to expel an entire theater of pent-up tension.
"There," she said, throwing herself back onto the sofa with her arms outstretched. "The man is going to face assassin nobles, paranoid mages, and the Duke's personal guard, and yet he manages to leave two women trembling without even touching them."
She turned her face slowly.
"Two women… who aren't trembling for the reason I'd like them to."
Ester closed her eyes for a moment.
Just a moment.
When she opened them, her composure was back, polished like cold steel.
"Stop dramatizing," she replied dryly, going to the table to pick up two pins she'd forgotten. "He doesn't leave anyone 'trembling.' You're the one who likes to exaggerate everything."
