“You’re not going to go there knowing it’s a trap, are you?”
“What can I do? Even just to lay flowers, I need Lucian's help. You’ll have to put up with his tricks, this is payment for the service.”
“Perhaps I should go with you?”
“It’s not worth it. You're too conspicuous."
[Lloyd was handsome to the point of insolence, and since he grew tall at seventeen, he became quite noticeable. For a lady with a black veil, this is a common thing, but a servant with a covered face would arouse suspicion.]
Adaline looked at Lloyd's displeased face and asked:
“Why are you worried?”
“For...your safety?”
"Are you worried about me?"
"..."
He looked so bad that Adaline couldn't help but laugh.
[Lloyd would never admit that he was worried, that was part of the beauty.]
“No matter what they say, Lucian is not a murderer. He won't touch me, Lloyd."
"I know. But still..."
“Then what’s troubling you?”
There was no immediate response.
Adaline waited patiently. Lloyd rarely hesitated, and his silence was unsettling.
“The saint and the duke recently got married... but don’t you think the capital is suspiciously quiet?”
“A month has already passed, and we’ve calmed down. People here quickly lose interest in everything.”
“Yes, but...” he paused. "Okay, forget it."
"It would be easier if you just said, 'I'm worried about you.'
“Even if they tear my mouth apart, I won’t tell.”
Adaline, as always, teased him. But Lloyd didn’t finish, he didn’t dare say that he felt something unnatural in the eyes of that duke.
...He will regret it later.
[If you leave like this...I won't forgive it. No. I can't...]
[Adaline, wake up! Please!]
[Hope you're happy, Shane.]
Every time she remembered that day, Adaline felt a pang of guilt. [The mistake was that Shane saw that scene - the scene intended for Genevieve.]
[The last thing she remembered was standing in the distance. But she woke up already in his arms, wounded. This was unexpected even for her.]
She was cruel to such a kind person as Shane.
[Just the news that his fiancée died defending the Saint would have been enough.]
[And yet...]
[Although the nightmares had long ago left her alone, Shane's desperate, bestial cry still surfaced in her memory, as if he had lost his child.]
[But now...]
[He probably already forgot about such an inconvenient bride like her.]
Footsteps were heard behind him.
Adaline, thinking it was Lucian, turned around:
“Lucian, what are you up to again...”
These were her last words.
And then...she woke up under someone else's ceiling.