Claire didn't know what she was supposed to think after what she witnessed. In fact, she didn't make it far down the hall after Isabelle shoo'd her away.
She had been away for far too long…. Nearly a decade had passed since she last saw Karl-Franz. They weren't school children anymore silently eying one another at the table.
They were adults, and Karl-Franz made that clear when he chose duty over her. And since then, Claire had become a respected member within her own community.
She received letters from Maria and Theresa, spoke over phone calls briefly a couple times a year. Hell, House von Zehntner continued to send her presents.
But she had heard nothing directly from Karl-Franz. She had figured he had moved on, he and Isabelle had fallen in love, after all they had far more time together than she and he had spent in proximity.
They were soon to be wed, but… what she had seen tonight was something that shattered her expectations.
