'They won't stop talking, will they?'
Those were the thoughts of Valentina as she tapped her foot impatiently on the muddy soil beneath her feet. The boots she was wearing made a repeated squish-squish-squish along with her foot tapping and those around her were beginning to get on their last nerve.
There was a lull in conversation and Valentina suddenly looked up excited and glanced over at Esmé smiling, only to see the Grand Empress Dowager looking back at her exasperated.
"Lukresh, if you're done being more annoying than I thought possible, could you shut your foot up for a second? We're trying to finalise things and you can go off and flirt or whatever soon enough."
At that, the Archduchess frowned and glared at her pink skinned companion.
"Easy for you to say, you've been telling me that for days. Then, we finally wrap things up, the job is done, and you force me to stay in this meeting for literal hours. Don't you think you're trying my patience just a little too much?"
