Carina could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on her, but she ignored all of them, simply walking slowly over to an empty seat with her head held high.
The butler in the room, who had been standing behind the Duke's seat silently, recovered first. He coughed a bit to cover up the surprise on his face, and then addressed Carina as she took a seat in the empty space next to her step brother, Jonas.
"Miss, what brings you here today?" He asked, making sure to show in his voice that he wasn't pleased with her presence.
Carina simply smiled pleasantly at him, as if there wasn't anything amiss. "I'm here to eat breakfast, of course, why else?"
The butler only gaped, as Anne nervously walked around the table to place Carina's food in front of her.
Carina dug into her food with an enthusiasm that didn't match the atmosphere. Even though she wasn't looking, she could tell that her step brother next to her was frozen stiff, clearly too shocked by her appearance to move.
Nobody said another word for a long while, the only sounds to be heard in the room being Carina's knife and fork scraping against her plate.
Vanessa recovered eventually, though, turning her head to Carina and smiling at her.
Anne shivered at the look on Vanessa's face, for she knew that was not a smile that meant good things.
"We're surprised you've finally decided to join us after all this time." Vanessa remarked, her face open and expressive, as if she were welcoming Carina.
Carina knew better than to believe that.
"I suppose my invitation must've gotten lost." Carina replied, mirroring Vanessa's fake smile with one of her own.
Vanessa's facade fell for a moment, letting her inner fury shine through, but she plastered her pleasant mask back on just a second later. Carina would never have noticed, if she hadn't been carefully looking for that reaction in the first place.
"Well... we're glad you're here now."