[Lavinia's Pov]
[En Route to Everheart Mansion—Carriage of Royal Expectations and Flammable Tension]
The wheels of the imperial carriage rolled over the cobbled road like the sound of fate slowly approaching.
Outside the window, the world passed in a golden blur—sunlit trees, lazy hills, noble estates standing tall and elegant like they weren't all secretly gossiping about one another and mentally competing for 'Best Curtain Color Scheme of the Year.'
But inside the carriage?
Silence.
Not just any silence.
Royal silence.
Heavy. Thick. Possibly forged in the underworld by grumpy ancestors.
I sat poised—back straight, chin up, tiara perched like it was guarding the Empire's GDP—and slowly, subtly… glanced at Papa.
Sigh.
There he was. Still. Silent. Eyes like twin glaciers with a personal vendetta. Arms crossed tight, like he was ready to wrestle the entire Everheart bloodline for daring to exist.
Every five minutes, he sighed.
Not the normal kind of sigh. No, no.
