Liv nodded once.
Then she walked on, leaving Ted behind, along with the greenhouse that now felt too small to contain her thoughts.
In her mind, it was no longer Azura's words that echoed but a cold, unwavering realization,
She was no longer merely the Duke's wife. She was no longer a woman permitted not to know.
If this land stood on the brink of ruin, then she would no longer pretend to be blind.
And if the fault truly was hers , she would face it, with her eyes wide open.
Liv read on until night fell without her noticing.
The desk lamp burned low, its light slanting across stacks of documents that covered her worktable. Page after page of northern territorial reports lay open before her figures, dates, district names, supply records, graphs of harvest yields in relentless decline.
Plagues.Skin and lung diseases.Fevers spreading from village to village.
