To Tame the Four Tyrants, I Became a Seductress!! the banquet of betrayal

Valencia’s Room – Hours Before the Masquerade

[Lady Seraphine enters the room, flanked by two maids]

seraphine valefor( ml's mother)

“Braid her hair properly. She's not a pig… not yet.”

valencia noir( fl)

(sitting silently before the mirror, voice calm but cold in narration) “I remember this. Every word. Every sneer.” “Back then… I said nothing. I was a lamb. Quiet. Groomed. Sacrificed.”

[The maids begin braiding her long hair under Seraphine’s glare]

seraphine valefor( ml's mother)

(tossing a dress onto the bed): “She’ll wear this.” “No need to waste beauty on a girl with no dowry, no title, no use.”

[The maids hesitate. The dress is faded—old, ripped at the hem. It smells faintly of mold.]

valencia noir( fl)

(in her mind): “The same dress. The same humiliation.” “I stood on that ballroom floor like livestock—sold to the highest bidder, traded like rot for power.” “She offered me to that man... that beast... for one favor from the West.”

seraphine valefor( ml's mother)

(as she leaves): “Make sure she doesn’t look entirely revolting. We have a reputation to uphold.”

[The door closes. Silence.]

[Maids exchange glances. They begin dressing her.]

valencia noir( fl)

(raising her hand): “Leave. All of you.”

maid

“B-but… Lady Seraphine—”

valencia noir( fl)

“Did I stutter?”

[The maids freeze—then scurry out.]

valencia noir( fl)

(pulling the rotten dress off, tossing it to the floor): “Not this time.”

[She walks to a hidden drawer behind her mirror. Pulls out a velvet-black gown—one not meant for her. One Seraphine had stolen and hidden away. It gleams like obsidian, the embroidery like thorns of silver.]

valencia noir( fl)

( as she slips it on): “If they’ll throw me to the wolves again—then let me wear fangs.”

~~~

[Golden chandeliers. Velvet curtains. Laughter. Music. Masks. Perfume masking poison.]

[The crowd turns as a figure descends the staircase. Black velvet. Pale skin. A silver mask. Silent.]

guest

“Who… who is that?”

noblewomen

“Is that the Valefor girl? The cursed one?”

magnus valefor( ml and fl father)

(whispering): “Didn’t Seraphine say she’d be dressed in rags?”

[Valencia walks calmly through the ballroom. Her back straight. Her hands graceful. She makes no eye contact—until she sees him.]

[A foreign dignitary from the Western Empire—the same one Seraphine tried to sell her to. The same leech with gold on his tongue and hands that stung.]

valencia noir( fl)

(to herself): “Eight years ago, I let him touch my wrist. I smiled. I bled for this family’s gain.” “Tonight…” “…I’ll make him choke on that same smile.”

[Lady Seraphine appears beside him—her eyes widen when she sees Valencia in the stolen gown.]

seraphine valefor( ml's mother)

(voice sharp): “What do you think you’re wearing?”

valencia noir( fl)

(loudly, for all to hear): “Something befitting a Valefor.”

[Gasps ripple through the crowd. Seraphine is speechless. The foreign dignitary stares.]

Foreign Dignitary: “My, my… has the lamb grown claws?”

valencia noir( fl)

(smiling beneath her mask): “No, Lord Devon.” “The lamb is dead. She burned. What you see now—” “…is what rose from her ashes.”