"Well, who can blame the darling boy for that, hmmm?" Liliana asked with a delighted grin. "I have always been irresistible, my love; your younger self never had a chance."

There was the briefest something there, a single off-key note in the grand symphony that they danced to, audible only to someone keenly aware of every detail between them and even then, easily missed and not at all easily explained or understood.

"Though I didn't read your letter to Noct," she continued as if that note had never been. "I was terribly tempted, but I listened to the slight shadow that is my better nature and will be demanding kisses to make up for it."