The knocking came softly at first.
Then again. Louder. Persistent.
I groaned and turned onto my side, pulling the blanket closer around myself.
[Wake up call detected,] Nero said. [Host morale: critically low.]
The knocking did not stop.
"Seraphina."
Maribel.
I opened one eye. Light spilled through the curtains, bright and unforgiving.
"I am awake," I muttered.
The door opened anyway.
Maribel stepped inside, already dressed and perfectly composed. Her gaze swept the room once—rumpled sheets, discarded cloak, hair decidedly unroyal—before she sighed.
"Seraphina," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You are the Crown Princess. You should not be seen like this. This is so unlike you, if anything that is my position but with unruly curls."
I pushed myself upright, blanket slipping slightly. "Right. I slept off immediately the moment I touched the bed."
"That much is obvious."
