"Hey. Why did you feel like you needed help? It's precisely because you knew something like this was going to happen, right?"
From this new angle, I was indeed closer, but that didn't mean I could see her face, still obfuscated by the curtain of long, black hair.
Thankfully, however, whether due to the stabilising effect of my hand or words, her next voice was considerably more composed.
"...Indeed, I was concerned. Yet, part of me believed His Highness would never truly act like such an ignorant--... and yet... it's just... all such nonsense..."
From behind grit teeth she muttered, choked with emotion in a way that was completely unlike the noble character of hers I had grown accustomed to.
Again, the first sight of her flashed in my mind.
