Finally, she parted her arms wide, raising both limbs toward the ceiling in surrender as though offering herself up to judgment.
"My bad."
Her grin unfurled, wicked and utterly unrepentant.
"Sorry."
"Haaah…"
Alexios exhaled, and it felt like all the weight of the kingdom pressed down on his shoulders. His wife was a lunatic, his daughter was in the hands of a criminal, and his capital had been terrorized in broad daylight. It felt incredibly suffocating.
Yet he was not a man who buckled under pressure, no matter how much it was. He never had, never would.
But in this moment, Devil's words returned to him, clear as steel.
'You can't control your wife.'
And for the first time, Alexios accepted it. Truly accepted it. Devil was right. He had been right all along.
