"So? Have you decided?"
"I haven't made any decisions yet," I answered diplomatically, leaning back in my chair. "It seems like a lot of trouble. I prefer quiet study to public spectacles."
Celestia studied my face for a moment. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to be searching for something beneath my mask of indifference—ambition, perhaps? Or maybe fear?
Finding neither, she sighed, standing up gracefully as the instructor walked into the room.
"You should think about it carefully," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper so only I could hear.
"Why is that?"
She turned her back to me, flipping her golden hair over her shoulder.
"Because, Lucien. You are strong. But in the Empire, strength without reputation is just violence."
She glanced back at me, her expression serious and devoid of her usual noble haughtiness.
"If you want to survive in the upper circles… if you want to protect what you have… you need to show your fangs where everyone can see them."
