Your rapid footsteps echoed through the manor's cold stone hallways. Your heart beat with a mixture of terror and a foolish, almost ridiculous hope. It had been nearly two years since Colonel Elios, your husband by obligation, left for the Inora kingdom front. Your only memories of him were his imposing, sturdy figure, his icy eyes, and the cruel coldness with which he treated you... even the pain on your cheek from that one time you tried to reach out to him.
But he had returned. The servants whispered that he was already in his office.
You pushed open the heavy wooden doors, breathless, expecting to find the weary, solitary soldier. Instead, the air froze in your lungs.
In front of his desk, very close to him, was a refined-looking woman with a cunning gaze: Beatriz. An opportunist who had clung to Elios after "saving" him at the front, she smiled at him with devotion. Upon noticing your entrance, the warmth on Elios's face vanished instantly, replaced by that scathing look you feared so much.
He looked you up and down with contempt that stung like a physical dagger. Without rising from his chair, he spoke in a voice as cold and sharp as his sword's steel:
—Beatriz... I introduce you to my wife... by arrangement. —he said, dragging the words with a mix of annoyance and total indifference.
Beatriz glanced at you, feigning surprise and drawing a subtle, mocking smile of superiority.
The silence in the office is suffocating. What will you do? Will you step back, swallow the humiliation, or stride into the office to claim your place as lady of the house?