The old duke had gone to the palace three times and surrendered control over three Northmere estates before my father finally agreed to the engagement.

Cassian Blackwell, Duke of Northmere, was young, powerful, wealthy, and apparently handsome enough to satisfy the entire court.

To me, he was simply the man my brother had chosen because he was terrified I would lose my head over some man at the border and forget my family entirely.

So he ordered me home for the engagement ceremony.

Out of basic respect for the occasion, I went to choose the pink diamond necklace I would wear that night.

The moment I stepped into the jewelry boutique, one necklace caught my eye.

“That one is pretty,” a sharp, arrogant voice said behind me. “I’ll take it. Bring it here.”

Before I could react, the sales associate pulled the box out of my hand.

I straightened and kept my voice even.

“Did no one ever teach you that customers are served in order?”

The woman looked me up and down with open contempt.

“The necklace costs three point two million,” she said, smiling as she tapped the crest pinned to her jacket. “Can you afford that? I grew up with the Duke of Northmere. In this city, I decide what I get.”

Blackwell.

What a coincidence.

Cassian Blackwell was the fiancé I was supposed to meet that night.

I took out my phone and dialed his number.

“Cassian, your childhood friend is trying to take the necklace I chose for our engagement ceremony. How would you like me to handle her?”

The call disconnected before I could remind Cassian Blackwell that I was Seraphina Valemont, his fiancée and the woman meant to stand beside him in this political marriage.

I lowered my phone and stared at the screen for several seconds.

That was impressive.

My own fiancé did not even have my number saved.

Beside me, Juliette Ashford laughed, and the Blackwell crest pinned to her chest shifted slightly as she crossed her arms.

“This is honestly entertaining,” she said. “I have no idea how you got Cassian’s private number, but you cannot seriously believe one phone call will make him defend you.”

People always made the phrase “childhood friend” sound innocent, but relationships like that were rarely simple among royal families and old money dynasties.

If the Duke of Northmere could not give me a proper explanation today, then perhaps this engagement did not need to continue at all.

Juliette’s eyes moved over me slowly, lingering on my coat, my shoes, and finally the collar of my shirt.

“I’ll be honest,” she continued. “The maids at Blackwell Estate dress better than you do. What exactly gave you the confidence to compete with me?”

I had never cared much about clothing. During my years at the border, practical things mattered more than appearances, and I had always believed a person’s value had nothing to do with designer labels.

“I don’t need luxury brands to prove my worth,” I replied calmly. “Usually the people who rely on labels the most are the ones with nothing underneath them.”

My gaze flicked briefly toward the Blackwell crest on her chest.

“If Cassian grew up around people like you, perhaps his standards are lower than I expected.”

Her expression stiffened for a moment.

She had already ruined my mood, so I reached for another pink diamond necklace and handed it to the sales associate.

“I’ll take this one instead. Please wrap it up.”

The associate stayed frozen behind the counter, his nervous gaze moving between Juliette and me.

“I’m sorry, miss,” he finally said, “but our store prioritizes noble clients.”

Juliette smiled without speaking. She simply lifted her chin and touched the Blackwell crest again.

“Do you understand now?” she asked softly. “This crest means the Blackwell family protects me. What exactly do you have?”

I crossed my arms and looked at her quietly.

There was no dramatic display of royal authority and no theatrical intimidation. I simply looked at her until, for some reason, her smile faltered.

“What?” she snapped. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I ignored her and turned back to the associate.

“I said wrap it up. I’m paying.”

The associate looked close to tears.

“Please,” he whispered, “I can’t afford to offend the Blackwell family.”

Quiet whispers spread through the store.

“That’s Juliette Ashford.”

“She’s close to Duke Blackwell.”

“This girl should stop before things get ugly.”

Juliette relaxed as she listened to the murmurs around us. Then she stepped closer in her red heels and smiled at me with open superiority.

“I’m actually very generous,” she said sweetly. “Apologize in front of everyone, and maybe I’ll let this go.”

Over past years, nobody had ever spoken to me that way before. I laughed because the situation was genuinely absurd.

“I’m sorry,” I said pleasantly, “what exactly did you want me to say?”

Juliette rolled her eyes. “Do you also have hearing problems?”

“I heard you perfectly well,” I replied with the same smile. “Since you already seem aware of how pathetic you are, perhaps you should stop blocking my path.”

The store fell silent, and Juliette’s face shifted through several shades of outrage before she lunged toward me.

I did not step back. During the two years I spent at the border, I learned far more than medicine. Nobody cared that I was a Valemont there, and if you could not protect yourself, you did not last long.

Compared with the people I dealt with there, Juliette was harmless.

The moment she rushed at me, I stepped aside. She lost her balance and fell face first onto the polished marble floor. Gasps erupted throughout the store.

“Oh my God.”

“She actually touched Juliette?”

“The duke is going to destroy her.”

I looked down at Juliette without much emotion. Fear never really occurred to me.

My brother was Adrian Valemont, Crown Prince of Aurelia, and the military answered directly to him. There was not a single person in this country capable of making his sister afraid.

I placed Adrian’s black card onto the counter. “Charge it.”

The associate stared at the card in horror, his hands trembling.

Juliette pushed herself off the floor with dust on her dress and one heel twisted sideways. The moment she saw the necklace being packaged, her eyes turned red with fury.

“You cannot be serious.”

She stepped in front of me again to block my path.

I glanced at her ruined heel. “Was the floor not painful enough the first time?”

Her expression twisted with rage, but after embarrassing herself once, she did not dare rush at me again.

I was about to walk around her when the doors suddenly opened and a man stepped inside. The atmosphere shifted immediately, and every person noticed him the moment he entered. He was tall, sharply dressed, and coldly handsome in a way that explained far too much.

Juliette reacted first. Her aggression vanished instantly, replaced by perfectly timed tears and wounded vulnerability.

“Cassian,” she said softly as she hurried toward him, “she stole the necklace I wanted and attacked me.”

So this was Cassian Blackwell. Adrian had been right, and that face alone explained a great deal.

I looked him over before smiling faintly. “I’m Seraphina Valemont. Your fiancée.”

Whispers spread through the store again.

“So she’s the engagement partner?”

“No wonder she acted fearless.”

“Then surely the duke will side with his fiancée now.”

Cassian finally looked directly at me, but there was not the slightest trace of warmth in his expression.

“Do not misunderstand,” he said coldly. “That engagement was my father’s decision, not mine. I never agreed to it.”

Juliette immediately wrapped herself around his arm with obvious satisfaction.

“Did you hear that?” she asked sweetly. “Someone like you was never going to stand beside him.”

The whispers around us grew louder.

“Juliette and the duke clearly belong together.”

“The Valemonts have distant relatives everywhere. Who even knows who she really is?”

“She doesn’t look important at all.”

I said nothing because everyone in the room had misunderstood the situation completely. Actually, the Blackwells were the ones who had begged the palace for this marriage.

I adjusted my bag and walked past Cassian. When I reached his shoulder, I paused briefly.

“Your family wanted this marriage. I didn’t.” I said calmly. “This engagement was clearly a mistake.”

Before I returned to the capital, Adrian had told me how desperately the Blackwell family wanted this engagement. The old duke had negotiated with the palace three times and surrendered control of three Northmere estates before my father agreed.

If Duke Blackwell learned that his own son had ruined the arrangement, the aftermath would be interesting to watch.

That thought improved my mood enough that I continued toward the exit.

Juliette grabbed my arm from behind hard enough for her nails to dig into my skin.

I turned around and looked at her. “What now?”

Her face was twisted with anger, but Cassian standing behind her had clearly given her confidence again.

“You embarrassed me in front of everyone,” she snapped. “Do you really think you can just walk away?”

I waited for her to continue.

“Give the necklace back,” she demanded, “and apologize in front of everyone.”

“If you refuse, you are not leaving Northmere today.”

Before I could answer, she raised her hand toward my face, her sharpened nails aimed directly at my eyes.

I caught her wrist instantly. Juliette froze for a moment before trying to pull away, but my grip did not loosen.

“Let go of me,” she hissed. “Do you have any idea what Cassian will do to you?”

I pushed her back without much force, but she still stumbled into the marble counter behind her.

“Cassian!” she cried. “She attacked me again!”

For the first time since entering the store, Cassian looked at me seriously.

“You seem very comfortable attacking people under my protection.”

He tilted his head slightly, and four security guards stepped forward.

I reacted quickly enough to kick the first guard in the leg, but before I could recover my balance, two others had already grabbed my arms.

They forced me backward against the marble counter hard enough to bruise.

One of them pinned my wrists behind my back while the other kept a firm grip on my shoulder, making it impossible to move.

Cassian barely spared me another glance.

Instead, he looked at Juliette and said calmly, “Handle it quietly.”

Juliette smiled slowly, and there was real cruelty in it.

She walked toward me and slapped me hard across the face.

Pain spread sharply through my cheek.

“Aren’t you supposed to be clever?” she whispered. “Go ahead. Say something.”

I stayed silent. She slapped me again.

“Finally quiet?” she asked with satisfaction.

Her eyes drifted toward the crystal display beside the counter. Inside an ice bucket sat a bottle of imported champagne, chilled for private appointments.

Juliette reached for the silver bucket instead.

The moment I realized what she intended to do, my expression finally changed.

She noticed immediately and laughed.

“Oh, so this is what gets a reaction out of you.”

Cold water sloshed against the sides of the bucket as she walked back toward me.

“You care so much about dignity, don’t you?” she murmured. “Let’s see how elegant you look after this.”

Before I could move, freezing water crashed over my head. The shock stole my breath instantly.

Water soaked through my clothes, ran down my face, and dripped from my hair onto the marble floor beneath me.

A sharp gasp spread through the store. Humiliation settled heavily in the silence because everyone understood exactly what Juliette was doing. She was humiliating me publicly for her own amusement.

Juliette crouched in front of me and grabbed a fistful of my wet hair.

“Look at you,” she said softly. “You don’t even belong in the same room as me.”

“Juliette. Stop now.”

She laughed lightly. “Are you threatening me?”

“You truly have no idea who you’re dealing with,” I said quietly.

“I don’t care who you are.”

Behind her, Cassian stood with both hands in his pockets, watching the scene with detached indifference.

Juliette tilted her head and smiled. “Maybe I should take a picture and send it to your family,” she said. “They deserve to see what their daughter really looks like.”

At that moment, my phone rang. Juliette snatched it from my hand and switched the call to speaker.

Adrian’s calm voice came through the phone. “Sera, did you choose the necklace yet? There’s a banquet tonight, so come back early.”

I clenched my jaw before answering, “Adrian, come to Northmere.”

Juliette laughed beside me. “Your little sister was behaving badly,” she said mockingly into the phone. “Someone needed to remind her how to behave.”

Silence answered her.

“If you have a problem with that,” she continued, “you’re welcome to come here yourself. Don’t forget to pay for the necklace your sister tried to steal.”

Then she hung up, tossed the phone aside, then casually handed the bucket back to the staff.

I had no idea how much time passed afterward. Every second dragged until I finally heard engines outside the store.

Several cars stopped outside. A moment later, car doors opened, followed by heavy synchronized footsteps moving toward the entrance.

Royal security had arrived.

The glass doors were pulled open from both sides, and a man stepped inside wearing a dark gray coat without a single royal insignia.

Adrian Valemont, Crown Prince of Aurelia.

Twelve armed royal guards entered behind him and formed a line near the entrance.

Juliette froze, and Cassian’s expression finally changed.

Adrian’s gaze moved across the store, passing over the terrified customers, the trembling sales associate, and the water dripping from the marble floor beneath me.

“I’m Adrian Valemont,” he said evenly. “Crown Prince of Aurelia.”

“Now, would someone like to explain who gave you permission to lay a hand on my sister?”