'…Is he not here?'
Alice's gaze drifted slowly across the banquet hall, passing over glittering chandeliers, silk-clad nobles, and long tables overflowing with wine and delicacies.
Julies.
The familiar presence that usually lingered just a step behind her was missing.
And with that absence came an unwelcome tightening in her chest.
"Alice?"
Amelia leaned closer, her voice low enough to be drowned out by the music. "Is something bothering you?"
"…It's nothing," Alice replied after a brief pause.
A lie—thin and obvious, even to herself.
If she had been alone, she would have already left her seat and searched every corridor of the palace. But surrounded by her friends and followers—Amelia from the North among them—she forced herself to remain still, spine straight, expression composed.
'This is ridiculous,' she thought bitterly.
'Even now, I'm looking for him.'
She pressed her fingers lightly against the rim of her glass.
She wanted to ask him something.
No—she needed to.
