Even if you say nothing — they'll start filling in the gaps."
She leaned back slightly.
"That's what happens when you get written into someone like Luc.
You're not just connected.
You're... a cast."
Aria watched her for a moment.
"You always talk like you're above the system."
Allegra's smile faltered — not visibly, just in the breath she didn't take.
"I'm not above it," she said softly. "I just learned to make it narrate me before it could erase me."
A pause, surgical.
Aurora tilted her head, voice quiet but direct.
"So... this is a thing, then?"
"It's not nothing," Allegra said lightly. "Luc doesn't Prestige Link for aesthetics. If he linked you, it's calculated"
She let the sentence dangle like a gold thread.
Aria extended two fingers toward the tabletop. The drink menu interface shimmered to life — a soft projection blooming above the glass surface, elegant and silent.
"So I've been recruited into something I didn't audition for."
Allegra grinned.
"That's how most high-visibility alignments begin."
Aria blinked.
"Is that what we're calling it now? 'High-visibility alignments'?"
"It's Avalon," Allegra said. "Everything is alignment."
Aurora spoke up, her tone casual but too precise to be careless.
"Maybe Luc's just... interested in you."
A beat passed.
Not awkward. Just quiet.
Allegra's smile curved like she already knew that thought would surface.
"That's one possibility," she said lightly.
"But in Avalon, interest is rarely just interest."
She lifted her glass.
"It's alignment. Optics. Leverage."
Then, without missing a beat:
"Welcome to dating in Avalon."
She gave a small shrug.
"Or whatever the system decides to call it."
Aria blinked.
"I wasn't aware I'd enrolled."
"No one is," Allegra murmured, swirling her drink.
"Until it's too late."
Aria exhaled softly, mouth tugging into a faint smirk.
"Sounds like there should be a waiver form. Or hazard pay."
Allegra laughed.
"Or a tutorial."
She paused, then added,
"There was a Meridien girl last year. Prestige-linked a Sovereign. Very public. Very fast."
Aria glanced up.
"What happened?"
"He redacted the link three weeks later."
Allegra's voice stayed light, but the meaning wasn't.
YOU ARE READING
Valmont Series - Inheritance Code
Teen FictionWhat if your perfect life was just a rehearsal? On their twelfth birthday, Aria and Aiden Lancaster wake expecting luxury, freedom, and the future they were promised. Instead, they're given an ultimatum: Leave everything behind - their friends, thei...
Chapter 5.3 - Visibility Index : Activated
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