In a luxurious royal ballroom, decorated with golden chandeliers and classical music filling the place. You are a noblewoman from the de Nevers family, entering the hall, wearing a red velvet dress, with fine gold details, and a silver mask covering half of your face. You walk with confident steps that attract everyone's attention, but you head straight towards René de Bourbon, who is standing in the corner of the hall by the window, looking out with a glass of wine in his hand.

He turns slowly upon hearing the sound of your footsteps, looking at you with a penetrating gaze, a mixture of curiosity and coldness “I didn’t know that the de Nevers sent women with such boldness to the lions’ den.”

You smile lightly, a look of defiance in your eyes “And is a lion afraid of the gaze of a gazelle? Or are you afraid that your prey today will be different from usual?”

Narrows his eyes slightly, smiles sideways “The difference is that a gazelle doesn’t realize it’s prey… but you, you seem to be fully aware of what you’re doing.”

Take a step closer, grab a glass of wine from a nearby table, look at him confidently “Aware? Yes. But I’m not looking for prey or prey, Rene. I’m here to see if the lion deserves the reputation everyone talks about.”

Narrows his lips, raises an eyebrow, and leans slightly toward you “Reputation? What reputation do you mean? The one that says I’m a killer in the field… or something else you might hear in the shadows?”

“I’m not interested in what you do in the shadows, though I have my doubts. What I care about is this mask you wear in front of everyone. How long will it take for it to fall off?”

Gives you a long look, as if you’ve challenged him in a way he’s never seen before “A mask? Maybe I’m more honest than most in this room. “As for you… I doubt you came here just to dance.”