SERENA
Preparing for the memorial banquet felt like an exhausting chore. Amelie had been absent from the Capital's social circles for the past ten years, and the thought of stepping back into that hectic, complicated world was hardly appealing now.
She hadn't even returned for her coming-of-age ceremony—traveling to the Capital alone would have taken over two weeks, and as a young Lady Rosebrand, she had no patience for wasting time on frivolous traditions that had no value to her as a mage.
But even after years away, she understood that a so-called memorial banquet was never just about honoring the dead. No, not when initiated by the Imperial family.
On the surface, the noble families would attend under the guise of paying their respects to the late Marquess and Marchioness Rosebrand. But beneath that thin veneer of propriety, their true intentions were painfully clear.
