178 Ode of a Taboo

"So, what do we have here? The daughter of Duchess Caecilia Aimenos—the Blood Consortium's leader and one of the Nobilitas' highest authorities, as well as a son of Celaeno with enough value to warrant an open conflict against the Neoteric Syndicate..." 

Syndic Lollia sat on a curule chair, its curved, ivory-sculpted legs crowned with a scarlet pillow. She calmly sized the two individuals facing her, their seats no less opulent than hers. 

The office surrounding them bore a stark contrast to the black-and-golden colors of Mursa's order, with vibrant tapestries of all shades of red, rose-adorned fluted shafts, and claret-colored furniture made of Shuen wood—the blood-hued export of Yura Nozerare's most infamous forest. 

Such a difference in tones felt almost intentional, as if mirroring the two captives' painstakingly-hidden past.