The lordling acknowledged this with a brief nod.
"As for your question," he suddenly went on, surprising the women who'd forgotten about it, "there is nothing in particular that I need from Princess Hilde. I've heard much of her from Lothar, and I thought… well, I admit, I did not quite know what I was thinking. I can't imagine how seeing me could make her hurt any less." Theodar paused, his dark eyes looking fathomless again because he was gazing inwardly. "She and I… we are in the same boat is what I was probably thinking."
Gisela's attendants shared a look, their eyebrows raised slightly. Was this young man perhaps suffering from a deficiency in intelligence? To not know the reasons behind his own actions—nay, to appear so thick-headed that the unparalleled beauty of the young woman h
