Estelle’s POV

“This is hardly a scene.” Vivian’s voice rose slightly before she caught herself. She smoothed her expression back into a practiced smile. “As for the rooms, surely you’re exaggerating. This is the Lycan Palace, after all. No matter how bad the rooms are, wouldn’t it be going too far to call them ‘garbage’?”

Lena’s cold blue eyes didn’t waver.

“Besides,” Vivian continued, “calling those rooms garbage would be insulting the Lycan King.”

The dining hall erupted in whispers.

“Are they insulting the Lycan King?”

“They’re suggesting that the Lycans have poor hospitality.”

“How rude of them... Especially as guests...”

“I have a feeling we won’t be seeing the Blackmoon and Scarletfang Packs next year.”

Almost everyone in the dining hall now had their eyes on us. Even the blind could sense their excitement about the scandal.

I, on the other hand, saw my opportunity and took it.

“Actually, I agree completely,” I said, my voice carrying clearly through the now-silent hall. “It was indeed garbage. The room I was originally assigned wasn’t even in the guest wing.”

This time, Vivian’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Lena nodded curtly. “Mine wasn’t either. The staff tried to place me in what looked like converted servants’ quarters.”

Vivian’s face flushed slightly, but she maintained her composure. “That’s impossible. All guests receive proper accommodations.”

“Only after I questioned a staff member rigorously did they finally assign me a room in the main guest wing,” Lena continued, completely ignoring her sister’s protest. Her voice was matter-of-fact, but it carried enough authority to make people listen.

I seized the moment. “I was told no other guest rooms were available. That’s why I was assigned a room in the Lycan King’s private wing instead.”

They didn’t need to know that Zayne himself was the one who made such an arrangement.

The whispers turned into full conversations now. Pack members were looking at each other with confusion and concern.

“If that’s true...”

“Why would they do that?”

“Something’s not right here.”

Lena turned toward the same servant Vivian had questioned earlier. The poor man was still hovering nearby, clearly wishing he could disappear.

“You,” Lena called out. Her voice was sharp and commanding. “Come here.”

The servant approached reluctantly, his face already pale with worry.

Lena’s expression was ice-cold as she looked him up and down. “Each and every pack invited to this Lycan Summit represents prominent families and leaders of the werewolf community. Are you familiar with this fact?”

“Y-Yes, Miss Hart,” the servant stammered.

“Good.” Lena’s voice dropped to a dangerous level. “Then perhaps you can explain something to me. Are you trying to declare war against the Blackmoon Pack by sending their newly-appointed Luna into some deserted corner of the palace?”

The servant’s eyes widened in panic. “No, Miss Hart, I would never—”

“Or perhaps,” Lena continued relentlessly, “you’re planning to make an enemy of the Scarletfang Pack? Is that why you tried to send their Alpha’s eldest daughter into that dingy wing with the servants’ quarters?”

When the servant heard both pack names mentioned, all color drained from his face. His hands started shaking visibly.

“That’s not my intention at all,” he said quickly. “I-I wasn’t the one who made the rooming arrangements. There must have been some mistake. I—no, we would never deliberately offend either pack.”

I watched the exchange with interest. Both the Blackmoon and Scarletfang Packs were prominent werewolf packs with significant influence. Even though Lycans were superior in the hierarchy, it would be extremely troublesome for a mere palace servant to offend not one, but two powerful werewolf packs.

The servant clearly understood this. It was unlikely that even the King would risk diplomatic relations with both packs just to protect one staff member. The man was probably calculating his chances of survival if this escalated further.

“I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding,” the servant continued, bowing deeply. “If there were issues with the room assignments, I will personally ensure they are corrected immediately.”

The dining hall had gone completely quiet now. Everyone was watching this public dressing-down of the palace staff.

Vivian stood frozen, clearly realizing that her plan had backfired spectacularly. Instead of making me look inappropriate, the situation now suggested that the palace staff had been disrespectful to multiple high-ranking guests.

“See that you do,” Lena said coldly. “And make sure this kind of ‘mistake’ doesn’t happen again.”

“Of course, Miss Hart. Right away.” The servant practically ran from the dining hall.

The silence stretched for another moment before conversations slowly resumed. But now the whispers were different.

“If they really were given substandard rooms...”

“That’s completely inappropriate treatment for pack leaders.”

“Maybe we should check our own accommodations.”

Vivian’s perfect smile had completely disappeared. She looked between Lena and me with barely concealed frustration. After a few seconds, she seemed to realize she had no good response.

“Well,” she said stiffly, “I suppose that clears things up then.”

She turned on her heel and walked away quickly, her red hair swishing behind her. I could tell she was angry by the rigid set of her shoulders, but she couldn’t say anything else without looking petty.

Once Vivian was gone, an awkward silence fell over our small group. I looked at Lena, who was already turning to leave as well.

I knew she hadn’t stepped in to help me out of any sense of friendship or alliance. Lena had probably just seized the opportunity to put Vivian in her place. The two sisters clearly had their own issues, and Lena wasn’t going to let Vivian score an easy victory if she could prevent it.

Still, regardless of her motivations, she had helped defuse a potentially damaging situation.

“Thank you for your assistance,” I said politely.

Lena paused and glanced back at me. Her expression was unreadable. She nodded once in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything.

Caleb, who had been sitting quietly through the entire exchange, suddenly cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Lena—”

But Lena had already walked away, leaving Caleb talking to empty air.

He sighed heavily and slumped back in his chair.

I patted his shoulder sympathetically. “There, there.”

Caleb shook his head with a rueful smile. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything else. At least she was nice enough to help.”

I could tell that Caleb didn’t want to talk about Lena any further. Thus, I cleared my throat and returned to my plate of food that had gone slightly cold.

“Perhaps you could run me through the upcoming schedule for the day?” I said.

Caleb straightened up and seemed to shake off his disappointment. “Of course,” he said. “There’s a lot planned for today. I have the full schedule here if you want to review it.”

He pulled out a folded paper from his jacket pocket.

I took the paper and scanned the list quickly. There were indeed multiple sessions planned, with short breaks in between.

It would be a long day, but an important one for establishing the Blackmoon Pack’s position in the werewolf community. Now that my father had stepped down and passed the leadership position to me, I needed to make full use of the day’s events.

I couldn’t entirely depend on Zayne’s help.