Salviana imdiately straightened.
"I do not know what expression you an."
Jean’s mouth curved. "Oh, I know exactly what expression I an."
Behind them, the last of Ava Layor’s belongings disappeared down the corridor, and with them, one of the palace’s loudest troubles vanished into silence.
But sothing told Salviana the palace would not remain quiet for long.
It never did.
The corridor slowly loosened after that.
Servants resud moving, though with the cautious awareness that followed any royal punishnt. The chamber that had once belonged to Ava Layor stood open now—its vanity cleared, its curtains stripped, its mirrors uncovered like a room already forgetting the woman who had occupied it.
Jennifer stepped closer to the doorway and looked inside with obvious satisfaction.
"I must say," she declared, "this is the most useful thing your husband has done for the won in this palace."
Florence gave her a look. "You say that as though he personally inconveniences you daily."
"He terrifies everyone daily," Jollene replied. "That counts."
Jean leaned against one side of the archway, unimpressed.
"You all feared Ava Layor this much, yet no one thought to remove her sooner?"
"It is not easy to remove soone who survives by attaching herself to whichever nobleman feels guilty enough to defend her," one of the ladies answered.
"And she collected guilt very efficiently," Jennifer added.
Florence rested a hand again over her stomach before speaking, calr than the others.
"Besides, she always knew exactly how far to go before soone decided not to bother."
"But this ti," Jean said, "she chose the wrong woman."
That earned a brief silence.
Jennifer looked at Salviana, then at Jean.
"No," she corrected. "She chose the wrong husband."
The truth of it settled unexpectedly hard.
Salviana lowered her eyes for only a second. Because hearing it from others made Alaric’s decision feel even more deliberate than before.
He had not confronted her with it. He had not demanded explanation.
He had simply removed the source.
As though there had been no possibility that such disrespect would remain standing once it reached him.
Beatrice noticed the silence and tilted her head.
"You truly did not know before coming here?"
Salviana shook her head. "No."
Florence studied her carefully. "He did not tell you?"
"No."
Jennifer clicked her tongue.
"That man behaves as though words are expensive."
"That is because for so n," Jean said coolly, "words are usually wasted."
Jennifer smirked. "And yet he acted before half this palace even woke."
Another princess lowered her voice. "The punishnt was severe."
"It should have been," Jean answered at once.
Florence’s gaze moved toward Salviana again.
"You should know sothing else."
Salviana looked up. "It was not only the lie."
Florence spoke with the tone of soone repeating what had already spread through three halls and two staircases.
"She apparently attempted to defend herself by saying if the marriage had been real, his wife would not have looked wounded by the accusation."
Jennifer gave a short laugh. "Wrong thing to say to a demon lord before sunrise."
"Can you keep shut with the demon calling?" Salviana glared at Jennifer who scoffed in surrender.
Jean’s expression sharpened with interest. "She said that directly?"
"To the steward first," Florence answered. "Unfortunately for her, Alaric arrived before the steward could decide whether to pretend deafness."
"And then?" Jean asked.
Jollene folded her arms. "He asked only one question."
The won around them seed to rember the exact wording with unsettling clarity.
Florence answered:
"Did you speak my wife’s na while lying?"
Even Simon, standing several steps behind, shifted slightly at that.
"He said that?" Salviana asked before she could stop herself.
Beatrice nodded while Florence smiled.
Jennifer’s voice lowered with theatrical gravity. "And according to the steward, after she answered, he told them to empty her chamber before noon."
A small silence followed.
Then Jennifer added dryly: "She cried."
Jean looked unimpressed. "Good."
"She begged."
"Better."
"She fainted."
Jean almost smiled. "Excellent."
Even Florence laughed softly at that.
But Salviana remained still.
Not because she approved of cruelty.
Not entirely. But because she could picture Alaric saying those words with that sa cold calm he carried when anger sat deepest, she was glad he didn’t kill her. He must’ve been really upset by how upset she had been the other day.
Jeanie suddenly narrowed her eyes at Salviana. "You are thinking too hard."
"I am not."
"You are."
Florence smiled faintly. "She is wondering why he cared enough to move so quickly." yet he wouldn’t let her see all of him.
Salviana opened her mouth, but Jean answered before she could.
"Perhaps because so husbands understand possession better than tenderness."
That remark drew another silence—this one more thoughtful.
"Whatever the reason, few n here would have acted at all." Florence’s quiet remark lingered in the corridor with more honesty than ceremony.
For a mont, no one challenged it.
Even Jennifer, who usually had an answer prepared for everything, rely folded her arms and looked away as though unwilling to admit agreent too openly.
Then hurried footsteps sounded from farther down the passage.
A younger maid appeared, slightly breathless from moving too quickly through the halls.
"My Lady Salviana—"
All eyes turned.
Thalia bowed at once, one hand pressed over her chest.
"His Grace is back." The words shifted the attention in the corridor almost imdiately.
Salviana straightened. "Did he ask for ?"
Thalia lifted her head. "No, my lady. I only thought to inform you."
That answer created the smallest pause.
For reasons even she could not explain, Salviana had expected otherwise.
Still, she gave a composed nod.
"Alright." She turned toward the others. "We will be on our way now."
Jean’s gaze lingered on her face for half a second, noticing the faint anxiousness she had not fully hidden, but she said nothing.
Florence inclined her head. "Until later, then."
Jennifer offered a casual wave. "If another woman lies about your husband, send word sooner next ti."
Jean almost answered that, but Salviana had already begun walking.
Simon and Heappal followed at a respectful distance while Thalia led them back through the palace corridors.
By the ti they reached Salviana’s chambers, the western light had thinned further, laying pale shadows along the carved floor.
But inside—
Alaric was nowhere to be seen.
Only Sarah stood near the inner table, arranging folded linens.
She looked up imdiately when Salviana entered and bowed.
"My lady."
Salviana glanced once across the chamber, then toward the adjoining room.
"He is not here?"
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