It came out of nowhere.
It was painfully obvious to anyone with the slightest drop of situational awareness that Her Excellency was a novice in the ways of Nobles and Royals.
A few comments laced with sarcasm, openly scowling whenever commerce or politics were brought up, long blinks that betrayed her rolling her eyes- or resisting the urge to do so-, tired sighs whenever a Noble overstayed their presence before her, and short responses accompanied by insipid questions that inevitably killed the conversation no matter how hard the other party tried.
And everyone understood that. Halves are not beings of subtlety. Quite the opposite, actually.
Still, Her Excellency held eye contact, spoke clearly, and treated people as if they were her equals. The last a mindbogglingly wrong notion, but appreciated by most when it came to respectful exchanges.
