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[h1][color=f49ac2]Amaris Marivaldi[/color][/h1]
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The Countess was unsure of what she was expecting from the newly presented glass, but it somehow failed to quite match up. She probably would have enjoyed the individual notes separately, however, there was something about the combination that just didn’t pique her interest. Lacking a sufficient distraction, Amaris slowly lifted her eyes to glance at Count Eve. Varis was laying down verbal trap after verbal trap on this particular topic. It wasn’t at all unusual for the Sinnenodel, however, it was just the tiniest bit more amusing when someone else was the target. Still, she did feel for the aspiring lordling, even if just a little. Varis frustrated her. The games he played were meant to serve him and only him; even if you managed a win, it was solely by his design. She found it exhausting to know such things logically and yet still find herself pulled in and tossed around by mere words, flustered by his antics. Amaris sipped at her drink again, but the clashing flavors only served to taint her mood. After judging an acceptable amount to leave behind, the Countess abandoned her glass and tuned in to the Count’s response.

It wasn’t the sort of scenario she’d ever been all that concerned with, having been born at the top and all that. For the Sinnenodels, the supposed power struggles almost seemed to be a form of tradition for them, but the Eves had been thrust into disarray through no fault of their own. They weren’t just fighting for power as many in these circles did, but rather their very existence. Amaris almost thought the sentiment admirable, had it not come from Benjamin’s mouth. He was either as naïve as he accused her of being or completely delusional if he thought he was going to be able accomplish anything by allowing the proverbial dust to settle before taking concrete stands. The rate at which things were heading, House Eve would be forever trapped under the mercy of others. Favors owed, promises made, the shadows of the other families looming over every political and business venture… It would be a millennia before they would find themselves free of such shackles, and what use would his ‘new’ be to anyone by then?

Still, Amaris took pause as the Count continued on. Here he was trying to play the favor of a Sinnenodel, Varis no less, and talking about his mother. If she had to put a word to it, Amaris would have called it sweet. But she worried about the ammunition it afforded the likes of Varis. No matter the fault she took with Count Eve, no one deserved the poison their host was capable of infecting the most precious of moments with.