Ulrich returned to the ballroom beside Louise as though he had not left King Antonias unconscious in a corridor only minutes earlier.
Louise slowed before the doors.
"Perhaps I should not return yet," she said.
Ulrich looked at her.
"Why?"
"If the King wakes and remembers anything, he may come looking for me. He will ask what happened."
"Not returning would make you more suspicious," Ulrich said. "Act normally."
Louise looked unconvinced.
"And if he says I was with him?"
"Tell him he was drunk and you left him earlier."
"That is all?"
"Yes."
Louise watched him for a moment.
"You expect people to believe that?"
"Nobody believes a drunk man over a marquis's daughter," Ulrich replied. "Especially not Antonias."
A smile curled on Louise's lips.
"You truly hate His Majesty."
Ulrich gave her a stern look.
There was no answer short enough to cover the subject.
