[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/seHu1lv.png[/img][/center]
[color=gray][color=4C93C2]Location:[/color]Damien Estate Ballroom
[color=4C93C2]Time:[/color] Evening
[color=4C93C2]Attire:[/color] [url=i.imgur.com/NRWiS68.png]Mask[/url] [url=i.imgur.com/Y3FQLGe.png]Suit[/url]
[color=4C93C2]Interactions:[/color][@PapaOso] Cassius [@Helo] Leo 
[hr]

As Count Calbert Damien’s attention focused on a duo at the center of a disruptive fit of laughter that had occurred quite timely after his speech, he had immediately made his way down the stairs toward the man adorned with a peculiar lion mask, and the woman by his side. The laughter had echoed, disrupting the delicate equilibrium that Count Damien sought to maintain within the room. An unsettling feeling crept up Calbert's spine; he was convinced that the laughter was directed at him. 

[color=4C93C2][i]The audacity to mock me in my very house![/i][/color]

A surge of predatory anger, a familiar fire, coursed through him. He quickened his pace, his steps heavy with the weight of his displeasure. Behind the lion mask, Calbert imagined a smug satisfaction. As he had been about to reach them, the intensity of his emotions momentarily gave way to a peripheral glimpse of his son, Cassius. In that brief moment, Calbert's keen eyes caught enough to send a ripple of awareness through him. He was well aware of what had been provided to Cassius, but more importantly, the tension in the air was unmistakable between Cassius and the man he had been having an exchange with. Instead of moving immediately, he instead had allowed his gaze return to the lion-masked man and then the woman with the butterfly wings.  

If the long raven hair wasn’t a giveaway, then the butterfly theme certainly was. 

.A flicker of memory danced before his eyes, accompanied by the distant echo of Duke Walter's voice calling out to [i]“his butterfly”[/i].

[color=4C93C2][i]Well... I see you’ve come to play after all. And then that must be Lord Leo Smithwood…You two have been long time friends, after all. [/i] [/color]His thoughts meandered, a wry smile playing on his lips. [color=4C93C2][i] Your allegiance is loud and clear, Lord Smithwood… And make no mistake… You will suffer for it… And do I ever have plans for you, dear boy. We'll see who's laughing then. [/i] [/color] His eyes made their way to Charlotte and he let his smile linger.

Surveying the lock of hair twirled by Charlotte's fingers, Calbert changed his course, aligning with a determined stride toward his son.

[color=4C93C2] [i] If only she was more like you, Walter. [/i][/color]
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