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Chapter 23: Blood on the Ballroom Floor

Author: Dione Zeus
last update Last Updated: 2025-08-29 19:55:56

The scream split through the ballroom like glass shattering against stone.

Goblets tipped, gowns rustled, and every noble craned their neck toward the center of the hall. A man slumped over the long banquet table, his face pale, his lips stained a peculiar shade of violet. His jeweled goblet slipped from his hand and rolled across the polished floor, wine and something darker spilling in its wake.

“Poison!” someone shrieked.

The word spread like fire in dry grass. Gasps, cries, and hurried footsteps turned the once-celebratory feast into a den of panic. Servants scurried, knocking into trays; ladies clutched at their pearls as men dragged them back.

And then, as though guided by an unspoken instinct, a hundred eyes turned to Serina.

Whispers hissed from every corner of the ballroom:

“It’s her again…”

“A curse follows the forsaken bride.”

“Everywhere she goes, death walks in.”

Serina felt the weight of their suspicion pressing against her skin, sharp as needles. Her fists tightened at
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