TOOAFP Chapter 88: Portrait of a Princess (1)

"Alryosha? This isn't Lord Rüschino's study."

Kasha tilted her head and waited for her eyes to find their footing in the dark. The air in the corridor had a particular stillness to it—cold and pooled, the kind that raised the hair along her arms in steady, involuntary waves.

Alryosha, however, had no interest in answering the question. Instead she turned to look at Kasha with an expression of sudden, baffling reproach—the tone of someone gently scolding a child who has wandered somewhere they shouldn't.

"My lady. Why did you come out? You should have stayed inside until everything was finished."

"Inside where? What are you talking about, Alryosha?"

A careful edge entered Kasha's voice. She had no idea what the woman meant, and that alone was enough to put her on guard.

"Just a little while longer—that's all it would have taken. We were so close to driving out the…