Chapter 3: Indifference.

Chapter 3

The silence did not break, it deepened into something far scary. It stretched between them, taut and suffocating, as though the room itself had drawn breath and refused to release it. Lilith stood where she was, hands still hovering near the cart she had all but forgotten, her face twisting further with every passing second as the weight of the question settled upon her. It was not merely surprise that took hold of her, nor simple fear, but something far more damning— recognition.

She knew.

Not how, not why, but she knew.

Sigrid saw it in the way her lips parted and failed to form sound, in the way her fingers curled inward as though grasping for something that was no longer within reach. The maid’s composure did not shatter all at once, but cracked in little pieces, each fracture exposing a truth she could not hide quickly enough.

Sigrid smiled.

It was not warm. Not kind. It was the same measured expression she had once worn across negotiation tables where men twice her age had attempted to outmaneuver her and failed, the same calm that had preceded decisions which redrew borders and broke alliances. Her voice, when she spoke again, carried that same weight—controlled, precise, utterly without haste.

"Lilith, are you having an affair with my father?"

The words did not rise. They did not sharpen. They settled with quiet authority, leaving no space for misinterpretation, no refuge in denial.

Lilith flinched.

It was small, but unmistakable, her body recoiling as though struck by something unseen. Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again, breath catching unevenly in her throat as dread began to seep into every part of her expression.

"Milady... ah... ah—"

The stammer broke from her in fragments, incomplete and useless, each attempt at speech collapsing before it could form into anything that resembled an answer. Her thoughts raced, scattered and frantic, scrambling for excuses that refused to come together, for lies that would not betray her further.

Sigrid watched her, calmly and unmoving.

There was no anger in her face, no outrage, no wounded pride that might have been expected of a daughter who had just uncovered such a truth. Instead, there was only a quiet, unsettling steadiness, the kind that did not belong to emotion at all.

Because within her there was nothing—no betrayal, no shock, no grief, only a quiet, unyielding indifference.

It registered, distantly, as something that should have mattered, something that once might have stirred anger or disgust, but whatever part of her had been capable of such reactions had long since been worn away. Perhaps it had begun the day her father brought another woman into their household two days after her mother died— (Duchess Sigrid whom Sigridwas named after,) the woman who would later become Duchess Liora, the woman who would garner all her father’s attention only for her to be discarded without a second thought.

Now, standing here, watching the truth unravel in a servant’s trembling silence, the realization came without force or resistance.

If he could do that then, he could do this now.

And perhaps worse.

For a brief moment, a colder thought surfaced, sharp and unwelcome in its clarity, that he must have been having an affair with Maria’s mother even when her own mother was still alive.

Sigrid pushed it aside.

Nothing good came from dwelling on such things, and she had no intention of wasting thought on a man who had already proven himself undeserving of it.

She moved.

One step.

Then another.

And then a third.

Each one measured, deliberate, closing the distance between them until she stood no more than a foot away. Lilith did not retreat further, though her body trembled as though it wished to, her breath hitching as the weight of Sigrid’s presence settled over her fully.

Sigrid tilted her head slightly, the faint smile still resting on her lips, unchanged and deeply out of place.

"I will ask again, Lilith," she said, her voice lowering just enough to strip away any illusion of gentleness, leaving something far colder in its place. "Are you having an affair with my father, the duke of this household?"

Lilith’s breath caught sharply.

Fear took hold of her completely now, seizing whatever composure she had left and tearing it apart. Her eyes darted, searching Sigrid’s face as though it might reveal how she knew, how this secret carefully hidden, protected through silence and stolen moments had been laid bare so suddenly.

How does she know?

The question burned through her thoughts, frantic and unrelenting. They had been careful. Always careful. Doors locked. Words whispered. No one had seen. No one had known.

And yet—

Sigrid stood before her as though she had witnessed it herself.

The fear twisted, shifted and something uglier followed in its wake.

Anger.

It rose slowly, creeping beneath the dread, coiling tight as humiliation settled in alongside it. Of all people—

Of all people, it had been her.

The duke’s daughter.

The one they called quiet, controlled, distant.

The one everyone warned not be to mess with.

Lilith’s teeth clenched, her jaw tightening as she forced herself to meet Sigrid’s gaze, though the tremor in her hands betrayed her completely. Her mouth opened again, breath unsteady as she searched for something, anything that might salvage what remained.

But Sigrid already knew.

She could see it in every flicker of expression, every failed attempt at denial, every hesitation that spoke louder than any confession.

So the vision had been true.

The thought settled easily into place, not as a shock, not even as confirmation, but simply as fact. There was no satisfaction in it, no triumph only understanding.

She took one last step toward Lilith.

And stopped.

Her footing faltered, balance tilting and for the briefest moment, her expression shifted, the faint trace of her smile slipping before she could hold it in place fully disappearing.

Lilith noticed, confusion overtaking her fear.

Then Sigrid collapsed.

Her body gave out without warning, hitting the floor with a heavy thud as consciousness left her completely.