Misa awoke at mid-morning, when the sun peeked through her drapes and blinded her through her eyelids. She squinted through the brightness, groaning because she felt drained. Her body was heavy as she lifted it to sit. Whatever Rithian had in mind for tonight, Misa wasn’t sure she’d be strong enough to withstand.
Misa pulled herself out of bed with what little willpower she had left and drew a bath for herself in the connected washroom. It was a lavish bathroom—one she would never have set foot in with her family’s social standing. Tiled with black marble and filled with scented soaps near the porcelain tub, it made her feel strangely out of place. Misa relaxed in cold water, too impatient to have it heated up before she jumped in. She tried—again—to slip the bracelet off, smearin
