Married To Darkness - Chapter 494
Chapter 494: Eva Should know her lane
“Scandalous?” Florence asked softly, her round belly hidden beneath folds of pale silk. “Or simply honest?”
That question hung in the air.
The older, married princesses exchanged glances — knowing, mature, and dangerous.
Lady Jennifer, daughter of the kings second cuncubine smiled faintly, her tone poised. “There are some truths only wives understand. Books like that only brush the surface.”
Princess Lilian, ever composed, added, “Indeed. In the story, the beast takes his bride fiercely. But in real life… the true intimacy lies not in the act, but in surrendering pride.”
“Oh?” Irene asked, feigning innocence but clearly intrigued. Widowed but definitely intending to be active.
Lilian’s lips curved slightly. “A woman may wear her crown, her jewels, her grace — but when she’s with her husband, all of that falls away. The moment he looks at her and she stops thinking, that’s when she knows she’s wanted.”
A soft, almost nervous giggle broke the silence.
Beatrice fanned herself dramatically. “Lilian, are we sure we’re still drinking tea and not spiced wine?”
Laughter scattered the tension, yet the air felt thicker, warmer.
Florence rested her hand over her belly and smiled serenely. “I think love should have gentleness. Even when it’s wild. My husband says it’s like fire and patience at once.”
Jennifer chuckled, eyes closing for a second as if she remembered something. “Then he’s a rare man indeed.”
Abigail watched in slight horror. What a topic, she thought.
The conversation flowed, delicate yet intimate, like a dance between innocence and knowledge.
But not all joined.
Salviana kept her cup close, her gaze low. She smiled politely when expected, nodded at the right moments, but said nothing. Jean, sitting beside her, mirrored her quiet, eyes down, a blush painting her cheeks. Christina, the one who started it, now looked a little overwhelmed by how boldly her seniors discussed the forbidden.
And then there was Eva Layor.
Eva didn’t laugh. She didn’t sip her tea. She only watched.
Her gaze was pinned on Salviana — sharp, assessing, curious.
Every time a woman spoke of being touched, desired, loved, Eva’s eyes flicked back to the seventh princess. Studying the flutter of her lashes, the subtle tremor in her hand as she reached for her cup, the way her throat moved when she swallowed.
Salviana could feel it — that quiet burn of being stared at.
“Do you not have an opinion, Princess Salviana?” Irene asked edgy teasingly, leaning forward. “Surely a woman with such a devoted husband as the Third Prince must have thoughts on… affection.”
A few of the ladies giggled, some out of mischief, others out of genuine curiosity.
Salviana froze for half a heartbeat. Then, with her usual grace, she lifted her head and smiled faintly. “I think… love is sacred. And perhaps best kept between the two people who share it.”
Lilian hummed in approval. “A proper answer.”
But Beatrice snorted softly, amused. “How diplomatic.”
Eva, however, finally spoke. Her voice was velvet and venom wrapped together. “Oh, but that’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it? What happens behind closed doors often defines what happens in the light. A woman who’s silent about love…” her eyes slid deliberately to Salviana’s, “…is either deeply fulfilled or utterly starved.”
The room fell still.
Salviana blinked, her polite smile frozen.
Florence shifted uncomfortably, sensing the tension, but said nothing. Jean’s fingers clenched in her lap.
Then Salviana answered softly, her tone calm but edged with steel. “Or perhaps she simply doesn’t need to speak when she already knows.”
For a breathless moment, the air trembled between them — Eva’s smirk faltered, the other ladies wide-eyed at Salviana’s elegant defense.
Beatrice burst out laughing. “Oh, I do love a sharp tongue dressed in silk.”
Lilian smiled faintly, restoring the atmosphere. “Indeed, it seems our tea has grown far warmer than the kettle.”
The conversation drifted again, lighter this time, but the looks continued — fleeting, silent, unspoken.
As the maids refilled the teacups and laughter resumed, Salviana finally leaned back, letting the chatter fade to a hum. Across the table, Eva still watched her, smiling faintly over the rim of her cup like a serpent amused by its prey.
But Salviana didn’t lower her gaze this time.
She smiled back — cool, graceful, unshaken.
And in that unspoken battle of glances, every other word about love and longing suddenly felt like decoration.
The laughter had quieted now, thinning into the occasional nervous giggle. The ladies had exhausted the safe kind of gossip, and all that remained was the teasing hum of the dangerous kind.
Eva Layor sat like a jewel that knew it was admired — shoulders drawn back, her neckline deliberately low enough to court whispers. She toyed with her teaspoon lazily, then lifted her eyes toward Salviana, that same smirk playing along her mouth.
“Salviana, why are you turning red?”
A hush fell instantly.
Salviana’s cup halted halfway to her lips. She lifted her gaze slowly, her movements precise, regal. “Salviana?” she repeated in a low tone, as though tasting the syllables for poison.
Eva leaned forward, a mock-innocent glint in her eyes. “That is your name, I believe? I would hate to have called you anything else.”
The audacity — smooth and venomous, wrapped in a sweet voice.
Salviana set her cup down, the faint click of porcelain sharp as a blade. Her smile was small and dangerous. “Eva, I will not ask for your forgiveness,” she said, her voice gentle yet cutting through the air like frost, “but you do not have the rights or the qualifications to call me by my name.”
“Qualifications?” Eva echoed, amused, feigning surprise. “Do we need royal decrees now to speak plainly among women?”
“Plainly?” Salviana asked softly, rising from her chair by just an inch — not enough to stand, but enough to make every princess feel her presence. “That’s not what you were doing, Eva. You’re testing limits you can’t afford to cross.”
Across the table, Irene smirked. “Oh, now this is more entertaining than tea.”
Princess Lilian frowned, but didn’t speak — her silence was that of someone observing a duel.
Eva’s expression didn’t waver. “How curious,” she murmured, leaning closer, “that a woman who acts so close to her maids would suddenly segragate who deserves her respect,.”
The tension cracked like lightning.
Salviana’s hand tightened slightly on her teacup. She didn’t tremble — not outwardly — but the remark hit something private, something she refused to show.
The other women were watching — not to interfere, but to witness. “Careful,” Salviana murmured, her tone cool as steel. “Your tongue might cost you more than you realize. I will not stoop to your level with respect, when you are full of disrespect”