For once, the silence in the dining room got to Katrina. It was a bit more bone-chilling than what she would prefer.
Somehow, one of them went through the dinner. Her grandmother kept them up with everything that was happening with her. Her father spoke in between and her and Natya nodded along.
That was all they did until their desert plates were collected and they all left for the night. To keep up with the pretense, Katrina moved with her cousin into the win they stayed in.
It was the only part of the house that did not have as much security in it as there was outside. Since they were both girls, there were more cameras around the corner than there were men. It was the only part of the house where they had a little bit of privacy but even then, Olga kept a constant eye and even slept here at times.
After an hour had passed and she had completed a little bit of the homework given to her by the teacher, Katrina left her room and towards the wings of the house where her father worked.
There was always a guard standing outside the door of her father, and he recognised her. His stance changed, and he noted in respect. "Ma'am."
"Is my father free at the moment?" Late nights discussions were usually full of what happened today, a minor briefing of what was going to happen tomorrow. Mostly, it was just a discussion of what will happen and what may happen.
His finger raised to his ear, and he murmured something under his breath. He was probably telling her father that she was here.
"In a moment, Ma'am." He answered and she nodded, moving over to the side of the balcony that overlooked the drawing room of the house.
She calmly stood, waiting for her father to be done with the business that she knew he would be hearing now. He would never let her stand in this area of the house for too long.
"Ma'am," the soldier called and stepped back to open the door. She swiftly moved in, crossing over the distance and sitting in the visiting chair. She was only one of the few people that did not need permission to sit.
"Hello," she greeted softly which small smile on her face.
"Hello, Rina." He smiled.
"I thought someone was with you."
"They left," he replied, "my daughter wanted to talk to me, and that is more important."
She giggled at the attention and smiled. "May I ask you a question or two?"
"About what, my dear child?"
She released a tensed breath. "The marriage that has been arranged for me."