Taking Airam's hand, Ulrich stepped onto the dance space once again.
By now, it had become impossible for the rest of the ballroom to ignore him.
At first, many had tried. Or at least pretended to. The arrival of the three sisters had already changed the atmosphere enough on its own. Their beauty, their composure, their origin, the name they now carried, none of it made for an easy sight among nobles who preferred their judgments neat and their prejudices unchallenged. Yet Ulrich had made matters worse for them in the most visible way possible.
He had brought the three sisters into the heart of the event.
He had let everyone see them.
And now, after the girls had been so plainly avoided and quietly shunned, he was dancing with each of them in turn as though none of that rejection mattered at all.
It left people confused.
Deeply so.
