The spring air was thick with rosewater and anticipation as the Van Verstappen estate opened its doors for the season’s grandest ball. The drawing rooms were glowing with candlelight, violins sighed in harmony, and every debutante and gentleman within fifty miles had arrived, eager for gossip and glances.

Maximilian Van Verstappen, heir to the sprawling estate and one of the most eligible bachelors in the region, stood like a statue carved of marble at the edge of the ballroom. Tall, stiff-backed, with sharp eyes that missed nothing. The kind of man who spoke little but whose silence carried weight.