For a while, we simply walked, the breeze tugging at my shawl as sunlight peeked through the clouds. Then, as we passed under an archway draped in ivy, the question slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

“Mary… were you here when my mother was?”

Mary was here for years, way before Mom got here. She must have served her, or at least had a conversation with her. Maybe picked up something useful.

She paused mid-step. I noticed the way her posture stiffened—just a flicker of emotion before she straightened, her hands folding neatly before her.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I did serve the late duchess.”

Her voice carried a note of reverence… and something else. Sadness, maybe. The kind that lingers.

I slowed beside her, eyes drifting over the garden’s still beauty. “Did she ever have conversations with you… about leaving?” I pressed, though I could already sense the discomfort in her tone.

Did she confide her dark secrets? One's she was too afraid to tell her husband, the father of her child.

Mary hesitated. Her gaze lowered to the path beneath us. “I… do not know the true reason why, princess.”

The wind picked up slightly, rustling the leaves as if to fill the silence that followed. I looked at her profile—composed, loyal, but shadowed by something unspoken.

She hiding something. She knows more, or at least more than me.

Mary led me down a winding path shaded by tall hedges until we reached a secluded corner of the garden. At its center stood a fountain carved of pale stone, its tiers adorned with vines and soft petals drifting along the water’s surface.

“This was her favorite place,” Mary said quietly. “The duchess would come here in the mornings to think… to breathe.”

I stepped closer, watching the ripples shimmer under the sunlight. For a moment, everything was peaceful—until the ground seemed to tilt slightly beneath my feet. A wave of nausea rolled through me.

She changing the subject. She most definitely knows more. More than what she wants to admit. Is she going to lie to me?

“Mary…” I whispered, pressing a hand to my chest where my heart thudded fast. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

She froze. “Princess… I—I…”

Is it me or is it starting to get a bit stuffy. My body is getting a little heavy, I hope my fever is not going to put me back in bed.

I tilted my head, studying her expression. “Only for my protection?” I asked, hoping to draw the truth from her eyes.

The air grew heavy. Even the birds seemed to fall silent.

“Protection from… here?” I pressed, my voice trembling.

Mary’s eyes widened in alarm. “No… no, never… I…” she stammered before the words tumbled out in a rush. “I knew she was with child before she left!”

“What?” The word tore out of me, sharp and desperate. My vision blurred as a pulse of heat rushed to my head. I looked down—tiny drops of crimson dotted my trembling hand.

“Princess?” Mary’s voice cracked with terror.

What are you hiding? 

Before I could respond, a pair of strong hands covered my eyes. The familiar scent, the chill of authority in the air—it could only be one person.

“You’d better hope your strong affiliation between my wife and Sabatain is enough to keep me from putting you up for treason,” my dad’s voice rumbled behind me. Deep. Dark. Menacing.

Even though it wasn’t directed at me, it made me flinch.

“I… I want to know,” I rasped, my throat dry, my body trembling under the weight of the moment.

His tone softened, though the tension never left it. “Your fever’s spiking again. You need rest.”

Is Mary the reason mom left? Did she help her escape because she was pregnant? Why did she keep that secret from Dad? What was the purpose of not letting him know. She always told me to trust dad, that he was going to always be here for me.

My knees felt weak, the edges of my vision closing in as his words faded into a distant echo. The last thing I felt was his arm catching me before the world went dark. I drifted in and out of consciousness, the world around me hazy and distant. 

Mary, how long did you know about the pregnancy? Why didn't you tell dad…. Your boss about her being pregnant? Why help hide it? 

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