The room was quiet.
It was her mother's room, but...
Isabelle sat on the bed.
The covers were still rumpled, as the maids hadn't touched anything.
The room still faintly smelled of the alcohol her mother had drank so often.
It was eerily quiet, now that the soft snores were gone. The occasional hiccups and whines of her mother crying were absent.
She hadn't thought the silence would be so loud.
She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Feel it thump against her ribs. Aching in her chest as she stared vacantly at the place where the woman who raised her should be.
A knock at the door.
She didn't respond. Didn't move.
"...Princess...?" Archibald's voice came through. "May I...?"
She closed her eyes. "...Come in." Her voice sounded strange. Hoarse, as if she'd been screaming for hours. Perhaps she had. She couldn't remember...
The door opened.
