Earlier in the office.

The duke greeted his guest and they sat down in the office lounge. 

The atmosphere around them was cold and no one said a word until the guest decided to speak first.

"I suppose you know why I came here, Your Grace. "

"I'm afraid I don't. Tell me how I can help you?"

"Don't you remember what day it is tomorrow, Alaric? Tomorrow is the anniversary of Rosanna's death."

Duke Alaric did not answer or reproach him for his disrespect. He lowered his gaze and continued to stare at the floor with his blank stare when his guest began to laugh. His laughter hid a muffled sob.

"Indifferent, empty inside. Even when you know how my daughter died you don't seem to care about her. You forget about her and go on with your life."

The duke's eyes remained lifeless and vacant but his mind was in chaos.

"I am very sorry," Duke Alaric said at last, "for what happened to Rosanna. If I could, I would have done anything to be in her place."

But this answer angered the girl's father. He stood up and started shouting while Alaric was still looking seated and cold.

"You're lying! Stop lying! You're not sorry. You wouldn't want to be in her place."

"I'm really sorry, sir!"

The duke's guest was not only outraged but at that moment he rushed at the duke grabbing him by the collar, pushing him violently back into the chair. 

"You could have saved her," he said with tears and rage in his eyes, "She had told me she was happy with you. She had told me not to worry. Why did you let this happen?"

The duke seemed apathetic. He was letting the man do this to him because deep down he knew he was right. He couldn't feel anything but he knew the feeling of Rosanna's father. 

The man continued to choke Duke Alaric when the door opened abruptly and his new assistant walked in. His face betrayed the anguish she felt and with her small body she ran towards them.

"Stop! Why are you doing this? Let go of him," she said, approaching the man and the duke and

trying to pull his hands away from her boss.

In the turmoil of the argument, the man noticed Elinora but was not deterred.

"What do you think you're doing?" he shouted at her, pushing her hard. 

Elinora, being much smaller than him, lost her balance and fell back, hitting her shoulder on the floor.

For a moment, pain and fear paralyzed her. Her hands shook, and her mind flooded with memories of her home. In this man's face she saw her father, the one she'd never been able to resist, and it made her freeze. Her eyes locked on the floor.

"Stop, stop making a fuss and go away," Duke Alaric shouted, and he managed to get up.

He tried to squeeze his guest's hands to let him go but he resisted. Finally, two guards entered the room, who released Duke Alaric from the man's hands and led him out.

Elinora remained lying down, frozen and frightened, her eyes staring down at the floor.

Duke Alaric could no longer ignore her. He approached her slowly and stood over her. 

"Get up," he said to her in a tone that was cold but not harsh. 

As he held out his hand to help her up she flinched. She looked at him and then lowered her gaze again and tried to get up on her own. Her legs felt like jelly and she couldn't stand up.

She was about to fall out of her haze when Alaric held her up.

"My aide shouldn't be so sensitive," he told her and she pulled away from him again.

She returned to her room and there she collapsed. She could finally breathe, she was safe. 

The duke was right. I shouldn't be so sensitive. If Edmund had been here he would have known what to do, he wouldn't have frozen like this. Why can't I be strong like him? she thought.

Sitting on the floor hugging her legs she began to cry and soon she couldn't stop. She choked back her sobs and said: "Edmund, I wish you were here with me."

The next day, she was determined to be stronger. 

She went to the duke's office but found no one there. She searched for Ronnik to find out what was going on but when she found him he looked quite worried.

"You don't need to be near His Grace today. You can rest in your room until I call for you," he told her and that raised more questions in her mind.