"What did you just say?" Arthur's voice was sharp, cutting through the heavy silence like a blade.
His grip on the doorknob tightened, his knuckles turning white as he turned his piercing gaze toward his men.
They stood frozen, their mouths slightly open, yet no words escaped. It was as if the weight of the revelation had robbed them of speech, leaving them to fumble for an explanation that refused to form.
The news that Sophia was pregnant with his child should have been something he welcomed—something that brought a sense of purpose or at the very least, some satisfaction.
But instead, a cold, unsettling dread seeped into his bones.
An instinctual warning flared in his mind, whispering that this pregnancy, rather than a blessing, could become a dangerous liability.
Why?
Because in his world, children were not just heirs.
They were vulnerabilities.