Chapter 131: Distant concern
The castle did not feel the same in the morning. Lucrezia noticed it before she had even opened her eyes.
There was a strange stillness in the room, an unnatural quiet that seemed to press against her ears. The usual sounds of the servants’ wing—the shuffle of footsteps, the occasional opening and closing of doors, the low murmur of voices drifting through the walls—were absent.
For a few moments, she remained beneath the woollen blanket, staring at the dim ceiling. Then she remembered where she was.
Nalia’s room.
And, more importantly, why she had chosen to spend the night there.
Her thoughts returned to the previous evening: Vaeron’s frightening appearance in the bathing chamber, the strength of his grip, and the way his eyes had changed. She could still recall the brief moment when she had believed she was looking at someone entirely different.
A shiver passed through her.
She turned onto her side, only to find Nalia already awake, sitting at the small table near the window.
The servant had wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and was attempting to fasten the clasp of a small necklace. Her dark curls were loosely gathered beneath a scarf, and a cup of something warm sat beside her.
"Good morning, my lady."
Lucrezia blinked sleepily. "Good morning."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Surprisingly, yes," she said, pushing herself up against the headboard. Her voice lowered, almost embarrassed, "Though I believe you were right about the blanket."
She smiled in response. "It’s alright, my lady. I do not find any fault in it," She reassured.
Lucrezia pulled the blanket closer around her shoulders, partly out of amusement and partly because the room was cold.
Nalia seemed pleased with herself. "There’s warm water on the table. I managed to get some honey from the kitchen as well. I thought you might prefer that to the bitter things the healers have been giving you."
Lucrezia’s expression softened. "That’s very thoughtful."
"I thought so too," She said, and then added, "Unfortunately, the cook disagreed when I asked for the honey."
"What did you tell her?" She asked.
"That it was for someone important," Nalia replied.
Oh, she thought. "I suppose she didn’t believe you?"
"Not at all," She said. "She told me that everyone in this castle thinks they’re important."
Lucrezia smiled as she reached for the cup.
The water was pleasantly warm, and the honey gave it a mild sweetness. She drank slowly, letting the heat settle in her stomach.
For a little while, neither of them spoke.
Lucrezia found herself enjoying the quiet. Something was reassuring about waking in a room that did not belong to a powerful creature, a room where no one expected her to behave like a noblewoman or a wife. Nalia simply moved about her morning as though Lucrezia’s presence were not an extraordinary inconvenience.
It was a small kindness, but one she had come to appreciate.
"Will you be returning to Lord Lust’s chamber today?" Nalia asked.
The question caught her slightly off guard.
For a moment, she said nothing, partly considering the question, and partly trying to ignore it. That was the trouble. She did not know if she needed to do so.
Part of her wanted to avoid Vaeron altogether. The previous evening had left her with too many uncomfortable thoughts, and she was not particularly eager to find herself alone with him again.
Another part of her, however, was concerned.
He had been exhausted. She had seen it clearly. The condition he had been in when she found him had been alarming enough to make her forget every sensible reason she had for staying away.
And although he had recovered enough to frighten her, she still did not know whether he was truly well.
Add to that, he was the one who helped her when she was ill. She was simply returning the favor, she thought. Or perhaps that was what she was trying to convince herself.
Lucrezia lowered her cup at the end. "I... I suppose I should," She said at the end.
Nalia regarded her for a moment, her hands folded neatly before her. For a moment, she said nothing.
"Would you not rather remain here for the morning, my lady?" She asked.
Lucrezia glanced at her. "Why?"
"Because the healers are expected to visit today. They will wish to examine you and make certain you have recovered sufficiently," Nalia hesitated before adding, "You have only just begun to regain your strength, my lady. It would be unwise to exhaust yourself by wandering about the castle."
"I am not wandering about the castle," She said, earning a careful nod.
"Of course not, my lady."
The reply was so quick and dutiful that Lucrezia suspected Nalia did not entirely believe her.
"Besides," Nalia continued, "should the healers arrive and find you absent, they may have to search the castle for you. And I doubt they would appreciate that."
Lucrezia almost smiled, but then, her expression turned wary. "Do you think they would truly search the entire castle?"
"I cannot say, my lady. But I imagine they would ask a great many questions."
She frowned at that. Curious, "Questions?"
"About where you had gone, how long you had been away, whether you had eaten, whether you had rested..." Nalia paused, as though considering the possibilities. "And perhaps whether you had been troubling Lord Lust."
Lucrezia looked down at her cup. Vaeron, she thought, and her heart skipped.
There it was again. She had not expected his name to make her thoughts so uncomfortable.
"I have not been troubling him," she said.
Her voice became cautious. "I did not say you had, my lady."
"Perhaps you implied it,"
𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Nalia lowered her gaze. "I beg your pardon, my lady."
The exchange should have amused her. Instead, Lucrezia found herself thinking of the healers again—confirmation that she was well enough to leave her chamber. The thought that they might actually search for her whereabouts, supposing she was absent didn’t please her.
Instead, it made her curious how important she was as a Punishment. Definitely a curse, she thought—although, a particular sense told her she was important.
And then, inevitably, her thought diverted to the council, and her fingers tightened around the porcelain cup.
She had been ill for weeks. Long enough for the council to delay its questions, long enough for her to pretend that the summons was still a distant concern. But if the healers declared her recovered, there would be little reason for the council to continue waiting.