[color=lightgray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YGxzxVR.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/AVwIuBJ.png[/img][/center]
[color=D0B4EC]Time:[/color] Day  
[color=D0B4EC]Location:[/color] Sorian Park
[color=D0B4EC]Attire:[/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/LEHBLRN.jpeg[/url]Dress[/url], [url=i.imgur.com/2SBcciZ.png]Amulet[/url]
[color=D0B4EC]Interaction:[/color] [@CitrusArms] Stratya  [@Potter] Kira [@Oso] Cassius
[color=D0B4EC]Mention:[/color] [@Helo] Callum  [@FunnyGuy] Alexander 
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[color=gold]“Prince Callum Danrose is piss drunk.”[/color] It had been nearly impossible to halt the irises of her eyes from lingering Alexander's way briefly. [color=D0B4EC] "Do recall his mother was arrested before at least half of the Caesonian nobility."[/color] Charlotte informed him in a whisper through the teeth of her smile.  Her gaze slid to Callum momentarily, and she took a moment to fully take in the presence of the monkey as the chorus of voices swelled:

[color=lightblue]“21 on the Knight Captain!”[/color] 
[color=peru]“30 for Stratya! I like a woman who knows her way with a sword!”[/color] 
[color=pink]“Over here! 37 for Stratya!”[/color] 
[color=lightblue]“50 for Stratya! She’s mine! Back off you youngins”[/color]
[color=pink]“Oh fuck off you old bastard! 70 fucking gold!”[/color]
[color=lightblue]“100 gold!”[/color] 

[color=white]“100! 100 for Stratya! 100! 100 for Stratya… Going once… Going twice… Three times! Congratulations sir, you have won a date with Stratya Durmand of Vermillion! Please provide your bid to Lady Blackwood and please do enjoy your wonderful picnic with one of the fairest of our ladies!”[/color]

Charlotte shifted on her feet. The whole thing had been entirely overwhelming. She couldn't believe how quickly people could be bid off like prized pigs. Something about it all gave her the wiggins. She sent Stratya a sympathetic, conspiratorial smile, then edged close enough to murmur, [color=D0B4EC]“If any of this proves disagreeable, come signal me. I am here for you.”[/color]

[color=gold]“Another maiden from Vermillion, and I say this with no offense to my favorite Knight Captain, but Lady Vikena is the grand jewel… [/color]

The smile stayed; it always did. But it went thin at the edges, and the line of her shoulders drew a breath tighter. She was a jewel. A polished, prized jewel placed on a velvet cushion to be admired and appraised. And Stratya, so casually set aside with an apology, as though a woman could be footnoted.

Charlotte veiled the brief flicker of irritation in her eyes, her brows furrowing as she tried to drown out Alexander's words in her mind. Her fingers smoothed her skirt once, then stilled, pressing into the fabric as though to anchor herself.

Then the callers started again.

[color=white]“Lady Vikena starting at 50 gold! 50! 50 for Lady Vikena!”[/color]

Her pulse answered in time with the numbers. Each one landed like a coin dropped in a dish, and she hated the sound. Charlotte held her poise anyway, since that was what was expected as the calls continued. 

[color=#4DD0E1]”120 gold!”[/color]

The new voice made her brows lift. [i]A woman’s voice. [/i] Curious, Charlotte’s gaze sought the source, and soon found her: dark-skinned, beautiful, eyes gleaming in the light. Her mind wandered back to the Royal Curd, plucking the name from the depths of her mind: [color=D0B4EC][i]Mira? ... No Kira.[/i][/color] Olivia was beside the woman, shrugging. A soft giggle escaped Lottie's lips.

For the briefest moment, her chest eased. Same-sex courtships were hardly the fashion in Caesonia, not when dynasties demanded heirs. But Charlotte saw no harm, and less still in kindness. She let her smile warm as she looked at her, offering Kira a grateful nod.

[color=lightsteelblue]“Two hundred.”[/color]

She could have plucked that voice out of a crowd of thousands. Her eyes fell on him instantly, and her lips parted. 

[i]Cassius.[/i]

The sight of him hit her like a strike to the chest. He looked battered, her scratches doing him no favor, and his eyes were darker than she remembered. For the briefest moment, something sharp tugged inside her, a rush of worry she wanted to ignore. That face, once, and unfortunately still, capable of making her heart race with something she could not name, now also made her body feel unbearably heavy. Pain, grief, confusion, anger—all of it tangled together, with one word repeating over and over in her mind like a metronome: [i]why, why, why...[/i] At first steady, then quickening until it drowned her.

But just as swiftly, suspicion rushed in to fill the space. Her lashes lowered again, and her fingers knotted into her skirts, her fists barely trembling. Perhaps he had drunk himself sick like Callum. Perhaps he only meant to stir at old wounds, to make a spectacle of her while she stood vulnerable on this stage. And yet… his expression did not quite convey mockery. That left her more unsettled than if it had.

Was it for his father? [i]For his own vengeance?[/i]

Her pulse rose with the thought. She found herself pouting at him, her brows lowering, her eyes darkening with anger she did not bother to hide.

[color=D0B4EC][i]Why do you insist on haunting me, Cassius?[/i][/color]

Her eyes burned, not only with sorrow but with a righteous anger. Her lip trembled before she mastered it, lifting her chin high to glare down at him. Fear had no place in her gaze anymore.

[color=D0B4EC][i]If you think I’ll let you… then you are sorely mistaken.[/i][/color]

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