FOR THE LONGEST time, Alice had never seen the queen of Gladiolum angry. She was always poised, elegant, and silently sinister. She never wore her anger on her sleeve, maintaining the falsity that every other noble bore on their plastic faces. However, this time, the queen's face was as scarlet as her hair.
It was no surprise. After all, her beloved son's birthday celebration had just been disrupted by a prince she despised and a girl she thought was a thorn at her side.
"Mother," Hartley greeted, stepping aside to let the queen pass.
Immediately, the look in the queen's eyes softened. She first turned to her child, examining his features before turning her attention back to the assassin that knelt on the floor, defeated.
"What is going on?" she repeated, this time, much more calmly than before.
"It seems like the palace is no longer safe," Hartley replied. He was the only one that dared.
