POV Lilianna Ternier
Hearing about the Artifact Master, Lilianna immediately looked around at the people present. It seemed that everyone knew the news, and she was the only one who had managed to miss it. Fault! Jeanne and Lucy, two stupid chickens, didn't report it!
Well, — the girl looked at Fleur with a slight curl of her lips. — It's a pity, but the boy won't escape their clutches. Poor, poor little girl-Fleur! What a pity that a very good boy with purple eyes will soon forget you. As if sensing her thoughts, the blonde frowned and blinked unkindly.
Oh, don't be, where are you going to play grown-up games? You'd better go deeper into the garden, maybe you'll get lucky and see what happens when a man and a woman are alone together. You'll never find anyone who can withstand the full force of an inheritance! Ha ha!
But she, Lilianna, still had a chance to find a husband who wasn't old. The girl barely held back a predatory grin, but her lips quivered as the two Veilas exchanged glances. More than one of those present noticed and understood at least half of the gestures and signs of both girls, some even more. Some even noticed a few strange looks from the newcomer, which greatly increased their opinion of him.
And then came a very exciting game, the aristocracy's favorite game of intrigue. A game of weaving a web of cunning, of exchanging information in such a way as to gain the greatest advantage. To tell the truth to one, a hint to another, and a loving lie to another, so that he/she comes to the right conclusion, considers his/her own thoughts, and is deceived.
Oh, how much pleasure can be found in this game! Only the truly clever and cunning are able to play it, not to lose and to enjoy it! Lilianne Ternier had earned it, had won her place among the more generous and wealthy, had risen to the level and was now playing on the common field.
A few words here, a compliment (was it a compliment?) there, a laugh at someone's phrase, and she playfully waved her fan, slapping it lightly on Paul's chest, almost on his shoulder, just where the glasses clinked in a joking toast. And again a broad smile, this time the most genuine, for the Japanese wine he had just drunk happened to contain a secret compound of her own invention.
Nothing dangerous, but now the guy will not forget her, she will not leave his thoughts, and at the next meeting his attention will belong only to her. With a new dose the effect will increase, and with the third dose they will share a bed, and another compound will bind him firmly.
And an old witch's ritual on his blood will create such a powerful bond that the next ten years will fly by for the poor girl. And when she comes to her senses, she'll have children together, marriage vows and all that. Ehhh. It's nice to be perfect.