"Did I say something wrong?"
The Sultana's confusion persisted even as my headache began to subside, and I couldn't help but sigh as I glanced up at her for a brief moment, just long enough to ask "How long have the two of you been together now?" before looking back at the tile, which was much less harsh on my recovering eyes.
"A long time now. Why?"
"And you still haven't learned that Lady Kio is a bit too proud to admit certain things to certain people..?"
I didn't need to see her expression to know that she was staring at me in shock, her lips parted in an 'o' as she stood there frozen, the pieces of this rather simple puzzle clicking inside her mind and making me sigh again as I added "My Mother is her... 'rival', I suppose, at least inside her mind. And again... her 'rival' is my Mother, so by extension she's treating me similar to my Mother."
