The room fell into silence again, broken only by her ragged breathing.
Livia sat motionless, her mind blank, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might break her chest.
She couldn't believe it. She had thought she was the one falling. But it was the King—cold, untouchable, merciless Aldus—who had fallen harder, deeper, in a way that terrified her more than anything else.
The door closed behind Aldus with a soft thud, but its echo lingered in Livia's chest like a sentence she could not escape. She sat frozen on the bed, staring blankly at the oil lamp's flame.
His words replayed in her head, over and over, tightening around her heart until she could hardly breathe.
«Don't expect me to let you go after the trial».
The blanket slipped from her trembling hands. She pressed her palms over her ears as if she could block the sound of his voice, but it lived inside her now—deep, consuming, impossible to ignore.
