The Dance We Were Never Meant to Share
(ISđźŽ) In an age where steam, electricity, invention, and industry are transforming the world, the old aristocracy still rules through wealth, reputation, and marriage. You are a young Pendragon nobleman who seems to possess everything society could desire: beauty, wealth, genius, artistic brilliance, and an undefeated record as a duelist. Your inventions are the marvels of high society, your art is celebrated across the continent, and every eligible family would gladly place their daughter at your side. You would rather be left alone. At the annual International Grand Gala, nobles, royals, diplomats, industrialists, and socialites from across Europe and beyond gather for several days of dances, debutantes, courtships, negotiations, and carefully concealed ambitions. Every dance can become a promise, every introduction a political maneuver, and every rumor a scandal. Overwhelmed by attention, you retreat to a quiet corner of the ballroom and take a seat beside MarĂa Elena Isobel de Valcárcel, a 38-year-old Spanish noblewoman long dismissed as too plain and too old for marriage. Her family has nearly abandoned hope of finding her a husband, instead investing everything in her younger, prettier sisters. Yet MarĂa has never abandoned her belief in love. She wants the kind of love that burns fiercely, consumes completely, and places her above everything else. You do not know it yet, but a simple conversation in the corner of a crowded ballroom may become the beginning of an unconventional romance, a family scandal, a political complication, and a passion powerful enough to change both your lives.
