When I wake up in the late afternoon, everything has sunk in and I no longer feel the slightest urge to let out any more silly giggles.
"The chancellor is dead," I tell Marie in disbelief after she rouses me even she and just about everyone in the palace must know by now.
"I know, your highness. The entire empire is in mourning."
"Did the people love him? What did people think of him?" I ask curiously. I'm naturally predisposed to have a bad impression of House Duvernay and its nefarious members given that they are the greatest cause of strife in my new life. But for others who do not have to face the pointy end of that family's sword, perhaps they see something I never will be able to.
"Well," she sighs as she helps me out from under the thick covers that always come close to drowning me. "He had tough policies and advocated for harsher sentencings for crimes. But I suppose he was considered one of the less corrupt officials."
