I immediately jumped to my feet, not believing my ears.
"What kind of madness is this?!"
"Calm down, Lady Grace," Richard said. His smile widened. "It's only a game."
I stepped back slightly, unable to believe what I was hearing. Only a game… How could he say that after uttering something I could not comprehend even for a single moment?!
At that moment Richard slightly turned his head, and my gaze slid past his shoulder. I noticed that from all sides, almost imperceptibly, we were surrounded by guards. Any attempt to escape would have been meaningless.
My heart clenched.
I was certain that I was in a hallucination, that this was some kind of nightmarish dream from which I would wake up at any second.
I looked around, searching for at least some hint of reaction from the others.
But instead of the expected horror or panic…
They were calm.
Yes, there was tension on their faces, but it was restrained tension. No screaming, no trembling, no terror.
