BRIANNA'S POV
I felt the weight of every single gaze in the room the moment I walked in. Conversations halted, heads turned, and a collective gasp rippled through the hall.
I tried to keep my chin up, to maintain some semblance of poise, but the burn of embarrassment crept up my neck like wildfire. I could feel their stares—high nobles, dressed luxuriously. They looked at me like I was some sort of spectacle.
This was a mistake. I knew it the second I stepped into the room.
The dress clung to me in ways that were far more revealing than I had anticipated. The neckline was too low. The back exposed more skin than I was comfortable with, and the fabric shimmered in a way that seemed almost provocative under the hall’s chandeliers. My heart raced in my chest. My palms grew clammy as I r
