Lucien's POV
For several days in a row, Ravena was kept locked in her room. Each day, I made sure the servants brought her meals at set hours, nothing more, nothing less. No one dared to speak to her. Even her personal maid was forbidden from stepping close. I wanted her broken and stripped of every bit of fight left in her.
At first I thought she would scream through the walls or throw herself at the door. But the longer the silence lasted, the heavier it pressed on me. Deep down, I wondered if she thought I had abandoned her. The thought left a strange twist in my chest, one I quickly buried. I could not afford pity, not for her.
I spent those days in the council chamber with my father. His voice filled the room with talk of punishment, of stripping Ravena of her wealth and forcing h
