[color=lightgray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YGxzxVR.png[/img]
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[color=D0B4EC]Time:[/color] Evening 
[color=D0B4EC]Location:[/color] Ballroom
[color=D0B4EC]Attire:[/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/XgrtOQU.png]Outfit[/url] 
[color=D0B4EC]Interaction:[/color] [@Oso][color=lightsteelblue]Cassius[/color]  [@Remram] Nolan
 
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[color=D0B4EC]“No, you are certainly not a child.”[/color]

Charlotte agreed with a bittersweet smile, a nostalgic one that seemed to hold all the years between then and now. Her hand smoothed once more over his arm. She felt as if she expected to find the frightened boy hiding somewhere within the man before her.

[color=D0B4EC][i]“I fear you and I have both gotten terribly old.”[/i][/color] she jested, wrinkling her nose.  Her smile warmed as he spoke of the university, a fondness entering her gaze that was sisterly.[color=D0B4EC]“And of course those professors need you. That is what happens when the student surpasses the teacher, after all.”[/color]

But when that guilt began to gather behind his eyes, Charlotte's expression faintly saddened. There was that familiar habit of his, taking the whole world into his hands and blaming himself when it fell through his fingers. For a moment, she was struck by the realization that though time had changed them both, it hadn't quite changed everything.

[color=D0B4EC]“Pish posh.”[/color] Her voice was gentle yet firm. [color=D0B4EC]“You came at the perfect time, Nolan. There is no reason for guilt.”[/color]

Her brows lowered as it dawned on her what had happened only a week ago. 

The memory came fast and furious. Drake’s pain as they tortured him with the fire poker. Ariella unconscious on the bloody wood floor. The smell of smoke and blood, the sound of suffering, and the helplessness of standing there with no power great enough in her hands to undo what had already been done.

Charlotte’s gaze dropped. She was grateful that she felt no fear. Because if she lingered too long on that tavern, on the sounds and the blood and poor Lord Drake suffering before them all, she knew she might unravel where she stood.

[color=D0B4EC]“That was not your fault,”[/color] she said at last. [color=D0B4EC]“And I am quite certain I may speak for Lord Drake, Lady Ariella, and Duke Gideon when I say we are all glad you were spared recent events.”[/color]

Her eyes lifted back to his. [color=D0B4EC]“You would have come if you had known. I know that. And you should never punish yourself for the cruelty of others.”[/color] 

She then glanced in the direction of the woman Nolan had drawn their attention to: Princess Marina Camilia. She smiled immediately, some of the heaviness in her countenance falling away. [color=D0B4EC]“Oh, she is a funny girl, that one.”[/color] A genuine giggle escaped her. [color=D0B4EC]“I can see why Lord Drake felt the sudden urge to become involved in your personal affairs.”[/color]

Her eyes brightened with interest, and she gently asked, [color=D0B4EC]“How did that go?”[/color]

And when he addressed Cassius, her cheeks warmed, and her expression softened with affection that was too obvious to hide. She took a step aside, turning so Nolan could see him properly, though her eyes lingered on Cassius a moment longer than they should have.

Then she lifted one hand toward Cassius, as if presenting something. [color=D0B4EC]“This is Lord Cassius Vael of House Damien.”[/color]

Her smile turned gentler. [color=D0B4EC]“Count Damien’s son, as it turns out. A rather dramatic revelation, naturally...He is new to all of this nobility nonsense,”[/color] she explained. [color=D0B4EC]“Though I think he bears it better than most of us ever did.”[/color]


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