Leaving Lanark

As Adela entered the royal carriage, she was taken aback to find her mother and Larissa waiting inside. The Archduchess wore a somber expression, her gaze distant and reminiscent of times long past. Larissa, on the other hand, appeared both sour and resolute.

"Are we all going somewhere?" Adela voiced her curiosity, but there was no immediate response. Instead, her father's voice carried in from outside as he conversed with one of the knights who had been accompanying her.

"…Is that so? They're all leaving then," Kaiser's words were tinged with a suppressed anger that Adela recognized all too well, the kind the Archduke preferred to keep hidden, a prideful restraint.

She wasn't sure exactly when Larissa's hand found hers, but its warmth offered a sense of comfort. If the Archduke's words pertained to the von Conradies, her father's information network was indeed impressive.