The silence stretched too long. In a hall where nobles fed on hesitation, every heartbeat of quiet was another knife pressed to my throat.
I forced my lips to move, though my tongue felt like lead.
"…I am but a servant, my lord. What place could there be for me, other than at Lady Alice's side?"
Polite. Safe. Humble. The only shield I had in this den of wolves.
Honestly, what the Duke was doing now was nothing short of nonsense.
"Giving up on protocol means giving up on having a personal servant as part of it?"
All excuses.
Technically, he wasn't wrong—but it was also something that could have been easily overlooked with the authority he wielded as head of the ducal family.
And if Duke Speda truly chose to act this way…
I could only assume it was for the same reason as the general.
"I have realized something while serving as Lady Alice's personal servant, even if it was only for a short while."
I turned away from the duke and faced Alice instead.
