Chapter 185: A Mutually Beneficial Deal
The words landed like a slap.
Lyra's beautiful face, which had always been looked upon with nothing but adoration and reverence by the entire Inner Province, instantly stiffened.
A faint flush of crimson crept up her neck and onto her cheeks.
Her eyes widened a fraction, a flash of genuine shock passing through them before she forcefully suppressed it.
She had never — not once in her nineteen years of life — been spoken to with such blatant, cutting dismissal.
She had been pampered, praised, and begged by countless powerful figures her entire life.
Even the Crown Prince had sought her favor.
Her hands clenched into tight fists under her fiery-red robes.
An emotion of fury she hadn't felt in years rose in her heart.
But she was Lyra Emberford. She did not lose her composure in public.
With a single breath, she extinguished the fire behind her eyes into something resembling calm.
