"Why are you apologizing to me, Your Highness? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Idris asked quietly, his fingers nervously twisting together in his lap.
Casaio sighed with the guilt in his eyes. He took a step closer. "Idris, I made a promise to you that I'd never let harm come your way," he said. "But what happened today…" His jaw tightened. "It brought so much undeserved hatred and pain upon you. None of this should have happened. I should've seen it coming."
Idris kept his gaze down, saying nothing.
"You were crying in the hall, and yet no one noticed," he continued, the words catching slightly in his throat. "No one paid attention to those tears. That's what I regret the most."
