Grace's sudden appearance changed the mood of the holding room, replacing it with a tense, unsettling silence.

When Warren saw her, the arrogance he had drawn from his family's influence vanished without a trace. In its place came a chill that spread quickly through him, followed by a deep, growing unease.

He knew all too well how much the princess mattered to the King and how vast her influence had become, both inside and outside the government. Someone of her standing would never appear at a small detention facility, so this wasn't some spur-of-the-moment visit.

However, someone failed to read the room.

Gilbert, still seething with nowhere to direct his rage, froze for a moment when a breathtakingly beautiful young woman walked in. The two men in black and Grace's own presence clearly intimidated him, but his playboy instincts quickly overrode that flicker of caution.

Seeing that she seemed to be coming for them, his bruised ego flared back to life. Curling his lips into a smirk