Chapter 13
Eloise stepped forward to help Athena up, but Nicolas blocked her path. “Escort Lady Eloise back to her room.”
The maids didn’t hesitate. They gently but firmly led Eloise away.
Athena kept her gaze straight ahead, her expression unreadable, eyes calm and detached.
If not for Margaret’s illness, she wouldn’t have stayed in the duke’s estate a second longer. Just being here made her feel sick to her stomach.
Soon, the courtyard emptied. Everyone was gone.
Siena and Aliza stood off to the side, heads bowed, barely daring to breathe.
Nicolas had given strict orders—no one was allowed near her. Even if they wanted to help, they couldn’t.
Rain soaked through Athena’s robes, clinging to her skin. She glanced at Siena and Aliza, then said quietly, “You can go.”
She thought, “They aren’t truly my people. No point keeping up the act. Why exhaust themselves playing loyal servants for show?”
But the moment she spoke, she realized just how hoarse her voice had become–ragged, dry, barely recognizable. The pain in her chest flared again, sharp and relentless. Saying she didn’t care… was a lie.
Siena and Aliza exchanged a glance. Neither moved. They simply stayed where they were, silently standing in the rain beside her.
Siena couldn’t hold it in any longer. She muttered under her breath, frustration creeping into her voice, “My lady, why do you have to be so stubborn? What’s the point? Just saying a few soft words would’ve spared you all this.”
One word of submission and she wouldn’t be kneeling here, bruised and punished. Siena thought, “Why can’t she be more like Lady Willow–so agreeable, so good at winning people over? Instead, she makes everything harder on herself… and on us.”
Athena didn’t respond. Her eyes stared straight ahead, blank and unfocused.
She thought, “Stubborn? Have I really been stubborn?” She had tried so hard–to live in peace with them. But it was they who wouldn’t let her be. No matter what she did, they refused to let her go.
She didn’t know how much time had passed. The pain in her body had dulled into numbness. Her throat felt like sandpaper. Everything in front of her blurred.
Above, the sun burned high and bright in the sky–but she couldn’t feel an ounce of warmth.
Suddenly, the sound of approaching voices broke through the haze behind her.
Aliza turned and looked. Nicolas was back–and with him, Henry himself. Both men looked weary, cloaked in dust and wind from the road.
But Willow was nowhere in sight.
Still shaken from the night before, Siena gave a quiet gasp. “Lord Nicolas and Lord Henry are back…”
Fear clouded her eyes, and she instinctively moved a little closer to Aliza.
Before they could say more, the two men had already reached them.
When Henry caught sight of Athena kneeling in the courtyard, a flicker of surprise crossed his face, followed quickly by displeasure. He shot Nicolas a look–but said nothing. His silence was tacit approval.
Nicolas was the future head of the household. Publicly rebuking him would only undermine his authority.
But when he turned to Athena, his voice was sharp. “Do you admit your wrongdoing?”
He thought if Athena just admitted fault, he could allow her to stand. It would give her a way out, let everyone save face.
But to Athena, the question was nothing short of absurd.
Everyone had already made up their minds–she was guilty. She wondered, “If I am already being punished, what is the point in asking? Is this just one more round of public shaming?”
She looked up, her voice hoarse but steady. “What exactly have I done wrong?”
When her eyes met theirs, both Henry and Nicolas were momentarily taken aback. The warmth, the eagerness they once saw in her—gone. Replaced by a chilling calm that felt like it belonged to someone else entirely.