The end of Carina's day at the palace was capped off with her disastrous run in with the second prince, something that had Carina sighing all the way in the carriage ride home.
Spencer had a moment to spare at the end to send her off, but she could tell he still had work to do so she shooed him away before he could stay any longer. He was still very sweet about it though, and it had her wondering how one brother turned out like that but the other brother turned out to be a complete eyesore.
It was something Carina was pondering on the way home, though her thoughts of Gabriel ended the moment she had walked through the front doors of the mansion only to spot the Duke standing there, arms folded over his chest.
Carina stood still at the doors, eyeing the Duke warily as he seemed to do the same with her.
"Where have you been?" The Duke asked.
His voice wasn't hostile, but it wasn't warm either. Just a cold, toneless indifference.
Carina didn't bother replying, instead choosing to walk right past him as if she had never even seen him in the first place.
She walked a couple steps down the hall before the Duke called out for her.
"You. Answer me."
You, he said.
Did he forget her name?
At this point, Carina wouldn't be surprised.
She turned around, with a smile as sharp as a blade, and replied with a simple, "I'm sorry. Who are you again?"
As far as she was concerned, she didn't have a father like him. Why should she pretend like she cared? If he forgot her then she'd simply do the same.
It was clear he was at a loss for words, having not expected that response from her.
Carina fought off the ache in her heart, and simply turned away and walked to her room, not stopping for one moment to turn back around to look at him or even sparing another second of thought on him.
Though she had thought that, once she had made it back to her bedroom and had collapsed onto her bed, before she knew it, the tears had began to overflow.
She really just couldn't seem to get a break today.