The Duchess gave a nod, and took his hand and lifted herself gracefully from the chair. Leaving the others to now simply follow after them. As was customary, the men would seek out a dancing partner, and as Melora shifted to move with Lucien out onto the ballroom floor, internally she was smiling. It seemed the Grand Duke was polite enough to offer her daughter a dance. Good. Let the man know what he was missing. His hussy of a wife was nothing compared to her perfect Aella. To think, the man would allow such rumors to spread about that the Grand Duchess was having an affair with a mage, and thief no less! It was scandalous to say the least, but so were her own thoughts towards Lucien. He was a handsome man, as was her own husband, but this man was so much younger, but barely by a decade. It was refreshing to see someone so eager to please her- but then again, most were.
Perhaps this was just a breath of fresh air for the Duchess. Or... perhaps she was almost wanting it to be more. There had been rumors that before her marriage to the Duke of Hellvion, she had eyes for the Duke of Orchy. But whatever rumors that were speculated behind that were snuffed out early on when Melora so lavishly was displayed, not even a year later after Orchy's duke was married, that she too, became wed to a duke and crowned a high ranking noble woman herself.
But it wasn't love. It never was, and both she and her husband knew it. She just had wished to produce an heir, for as lovely as Aella was, and all of the fame that came about due to her beauty was not enough to secure the crown to her own blood line.
No...
No.
The crown was going to someone else. And her husband refused to bed her these past few years so any success in carrying his heir was more or less negated and accepted never to happen. Though she was old, she wasn't that old, but hse knew the risks of daring to have a child this stage in her life. She was already in her forties, her early forties, but she barely looked to be much older than her own daughter.
She took care of herself well, and barely a wrinkle could be seen on her body. Though some grey hairs threatened to creep in, dark hair dye sought to fix that. So to anyone gracing their eyes upon the fair Duchess Melora of Hellvion, they'd see someone of impeccable and timeless beauty and grace. But beneath the surface of such perfection lurked something far darker and dangerous than most could ever imagine.
So as she took Lucien's hand within her own, she waited for the music to start so their dance could begin.
