Cashew stared at Alexandria with wide, cautious eyes.
'All the princesses were supposed to be on lockdown.' The thought thudded heavily in his mind as he slowly stood up, brushing himself off. Still polite—still instinctively deferential—he offered her a hand.
Alexandria looked… stunned. Frozen in place.
But then—
She burst into tears.
Her fingers latched onto Cashew's hand as if she were drowning and he were the last thing keeping her afloat.
He helped her up, but she immediately clung to him, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I—I heard the explosion..." she cried, her voice breaking between sobs. "I heard it was Azure... and when I left my room, there were no guards—n-none! So I went to check on Prince Florian! I was scared something happened to him!"
Cashew blinked. 'That was... exactly what I was going to do.'
