*"Hello, nice to meet you."*

The capital’s Denox estate, Rutheon House.  

In the most comfortable and beautifully adorned room of the mansion—the Grand Duchess’s private chambers—there was a peculiar noise echoing from the adjacent parlor. It wasn’t loud or chaotic, but it was persistent enough to grate on one’s nerves.

*Tap, tap, tap. Click, tap. Thud, thud, thud.*

The noise originated from three alpha nobles seated awkwardly in the reception area, neither close enough for intimate conversation nor distant enough to ignore one another. Each man, despite his rank and dignity, was engaged in oddly undignified behavior. One tapped …