[color=darkgray] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/3EdPgr4.png[/img][/center] [Color=salmon][b]Time:[/b][/color] Evening [Color=salmon][b]Location:[/b][/color] Grand Ballroom [Color=salmon][b]Attire:[/b][/color] [Color=salmon][b]Interaction:[/b][/color] Calbert [Color=salmon][b]Mention:[/b][/color] Charlotte[hr] When his fist made contact, he didn’t relinquish the power he threw into it, yet he found unexpected resistance. Lorenzo had never been much of a fighter, but he was also not raised to be the man who acquired the title of duke. It’s no wonder he wore the honors of it so proudly. So, witnessing Calbert, with his much larger stature, holding his fist and preventing the destiny he had chosen for himself, pieced things together. Count Calbert Damien. Always interfering. Always preventing. Always [i]leashing[/i] him like some sorry dog that didn’t know where to piss or shit. And like a dog, he walked Lorenzo across the ballroom floor and away from the man he had bared his teeth at. Calber knew what was best for him. Imagine an entire year of that. An entire year of listening to a man below your station due to something as dirty as blackmail. He never told Charlotte about it. [i][color=salmon]We need more time to grieve before we return to Sorian. The balcony of our estate is still being ‘inspected.’ Isn’t it nicer here? Veirmont is the best duchy in the world![/color][/i] Lies. And now all Calbert was doing was moving a searing hot kettle from one burner to another that was nearly as hot. He felt trapped in his own flesh, walking along and listening with nothing to say to either Charlotte or Calbert while they conversed as if he couldn’t speak for himself. What next? [i][color=4C93C2]"You may have to put that beast down, Charlotte."[/color][/i] Lorenzo was not completely out of sorts, seeing as he waited for Charlotte to veer away before speaking up, his voice straining with emotions that could harbor deadly intent. [color=salmon]“Count Damien, you will not talk to her that way,”[/color] Lorenzo snapped, ceasing his advance toward whatever destination Calbert had in mind. He turned swiftly against Calbert’s sturdy frame, uncaring if the other man lost his balance. All that mattered was that he could face him now. With a pointed finger, he continued. [color=salmon]“You will not fill her head with such nonsense. You will not trick her into believing I am her responsibility! You… YOU act as if you care, but you’re nothing more than a malignant tumor. A PARASITE that compensates by preying on others! And for what?! Do not think you have me beneath your thumb. Charlotte is MY responsibility, and if you mistake that, you will see what happens when a duke cripples a **** of a count. Unhand me!”[/color] [/color]