"Answer?"
My voice is quiet, but the word carries weight, pressing into the silence between us.
Madeleina does not move.
For a moment, I wonder if she will ignore me entirely, if she will simply sit there in her perfect, practiced stillness, waiting for me to grow bored of the question.
But then—
Her lips part.
"It is irrelevant to this conversation."
Ah.
A carefully chosen answer, precise and calculated. Neither confirmation nor denial, simply removal—as if the very idea of acknowledging it would give the question power.
I exhale through my nose, amused. A soft chuckle escapes me as I lean back against my chair, watching her with renewed interest.
"This is quite unlike you," I muse, tilting my head slightly. "Even though I gave you an honest answer, this is how you repay mine?"
Her eyes narrow, sharp and cutting. "You didn't give me an honest answer."