«You shouldn't think like this, Malia,» I say. «Your life is not over just because of a choice you made long ago. You're young, and there's a lot you can still do!»
«Oh, your Majesty,» she sighs, her eyes watering a little. «I don't have influential parents who would cover for me. I chose the wrong person once, and it's over. No one is going to take me as a wife for more reasons than just my purity. It would be a risk since his Majesty knows very well about me. No one is willing to be associated with me in such a dangerous way.»
«Marriage is not everything.» But, unfortunately, it's most of a lady's life here in the Palace. So much that a woman's power can be measured only through her husband's name.
That's why the Queen Dowager told me the mastermind behind the attempts was a married woman. Because an unmarried person doesn't have the means to organise something like that.
