Papa moved again.
His boots struck the floor with slow, deliberate steps, the sound ringing in the heavy silence. Each step sent a shiver through the room, a weight pressing down on everyone present.
Mareilla flinched, kneeling as if the ground beneath her had suddenly turned to ice. Her hands twisted in the fabric of her skirt, knuckles pale.
Papa stopped in front of her. The air grew even tighter.
"Why did you leave the princess's side?" His voice was quiet, but it cut like a knife through the heavy silence.
Mareilla trembled, bowing lower. "Y-Your Majesty, I… I didn't mean to. A maid came to me… She said the Head Maid needed me urgently."
Papa did not react. His eyes bore down on her, unblinking, sharp as the blade that had nearly taken my life.
Mareilla swallowed, her voice breaking. "I thought— I thought it was important, so I went. But when I reached her chambers, the head maid told me she never sent for me."
Silence.
Then—
