Page 29 of Heartless Sinner

I headed for my suitcase. “Boring.”

“I was hoping you two would hook up.”

“You hoped wrong.”

Half the castle had money riding on Cory marrying either Vittoria or me.

Elodie was Team Daphne.

Not because she cared about my love life. She just wanted my ass back in Calira after Saint Vale.

She flopped onto my bed while I unzipped my suitcase. “You ready to ditch that annoying, uptight university and move home to your castle?”

“Not yet.” I dragged out a stack of clothes.

“Yet?” She squealed while falling back on the bed and kicking her feet. “Does that mean …?”

“I don’t know,” I said around a sigh.

Right now, I wanted nothing more than to drop out of Saint Vale. Technically, Brooks couldn’t select me if I wasn’t a student. But running wouldn’t save me.

Once a Son marked you as a potential Fawn, you couldn’t just disappear. They’d drag you back.

Elodie checked her watch and shot to her feet. “Twenty minutes until breakfast. Get your butt in the shower. I need to help Vittoria get dressed, and then I’ll come back. You’d better not be in bed when I do.”

She slipped out of the room before I could argue. She was also my cousin, Vittoria’s, first lady.

After showering, I returned to my room and combed through the dresses in my armoire. The antique had belonged to my great-great-grandmother, who’d hand-painted the now-faded blue waves on the doors.

At Saint Vale, I only had to deal with a dress code during class. Here? All fucking day. And only royal colors—blue, gold, or green.

When Elodie returned, she helped me into the corseted dress, cinching the laces tight enough to crush my ribs.

Just as we finished, my phone rang, and I walked stiffly toward the nightstand. My ribs always needed a few days to adjust to the damn corset.

When I grabbed my phone, a photo of my mom and me on the beach filled the screen.

“Hello?” I yawned into the speaker.

“Good morning,” she chirped. “Please be on time for breakfast, honey.”

“I’ll be there.”

“On time.”

“Yes, Mom. On time.”

“Make sure to wear appropriate attire.”

“Already wearing the torture device.”

“Good.”

I hooked a finger beneath the corset and tried to create enough room to breathe.

Back in the States, my wardrobe was ninety percent pink and none of it tried to suffocate me.

“See you soon!” Mom blew kisses into the phone before hanging up.