Florian quickly covered his mouth.

The nausea hit him again, stronger this time. His stomach twisted, and a wave of dizziness followed right behind it.

For a moment he thought he might actually throw up right there behind the curtain.

He forced himself to breathe slowly through his nose.

'Why does everything feel worse tonight?' he thought. 'Is it the stress… or is it the pregnancy?'

His head spun.

'If they're mother and daughter… why don't they act like it?' he wondered. 'And that Amethyst girl… is she also Juno's daughter?'

But she sounded younger than Cindy.

He frowned slightly.

'Juno looks… older. Too old to have a daughter Cindy's age, doesn't she?'

Adopted, maybe?

No.

Something about it didn't sit right.

Something about this entire place had felt wrong from the start.

Juno acting mute, and then pretending her daughter isn't her daughter, was just a piece of it.

"I'm sorry," Cindy was saying quietly. "She's just being annoying."

"Bleh," the girl called Amethyst replied, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm.

"Amethyst, please stop that. Don't tease your sister, it's unladylike." Juno said, sounding tired. "And Garnet, can you accompany Cindy tomorrow while she attends to the prince? There is something suspicious about him. I even noticed the way he looks around. The way he watches us."

Florian stiffened behind the curtain.

'She noticed that?' he thought.

"I understand, mother," Garnet said softly. Florian could still hear her clearly despite the whisper. "But… mother, is it really so bad if he knows?"

A pause followed.

"Didn't you try to hint to the queen all those years ago about what was happening here?"

The hallway fell silent.

Completely silent.

Florian's eyes widened.

'The queen…' he thought. 'Anastasia.'

That was right.

Years ago, Anastasia had come here too. Because of Elara.

The memory made his stomach twist again.

"And nothing happened," Juno said at last. Her voice was flat. Cold. "Nothing will happen. Nothing will change. If anything, it just made everything worse, and now I'm not allowed to speak."

'Oh...?'

She let out a quiet breath.

"This is our life now. Didn't I already explain that to you and your sisters?"

"But mother, don't you—"

"I don't want to hear it," Juno interrupted sharply.

Her tone left no room for argument.

"Let's just go feed the rest now, and then we will sleep. Garnet, you are pregnant. You should not overexert yourself."

Florian blinked.

'Feed the rest?' he thought slowly.

Before he could process that strange phrasing, something shifted behind him.

The wall vibrated.

Very faintly at first.

Then stronger.

Florian nearly jumped.

'What the hell?'

The curtain trembled slightly against his shoulder. The stone wall behind it hummed with a deep mechanical sound.

It reminded him of something.

The dungeon doors.

The heavy stone doors that opened during dungeon raids.

"Yes, mother," Garnet said.

"Relax, sis," Amethyst added cheerfully. "We live in a huge manor and eat great food every day. We're the luckiest maids ever."

"Don't be insensitive, Amethyst," Cindy scolded.

"Oh, who are you calling—"

Their voices slowly faded.

Not because they stopped talking.

Because they were moving away.

Downward.

Florian's heart started beating faster.

He carefully slipped out from behind the curtain and looked down the hallway.

No one.

The corridor was empty again.

He moved quickly to where the voices had been.

And then he saw it.

An opening.

A dark entryway built into the wall.

Florian stared.

"Where does this… lead?" he murmured under his breath.

He stepped closer.

The air drifting from inside was colder. Damp. It smelled faintly of stone and something else he couldn't identify.

He considered following them.

Just for a moment.

But before he could decide, the entrance began to close.

Stone shifted.

The wall sealed itself again.

And a large painting slowly lowered into place over the hidden doorway.

Florian stopped.

The painting depicted Duke Eldrick and his daughter Elianna standing side by side.

Both smiling.

Perfect.

Almost unsettling in the dim hallway light.

"So it's a hidden passage," Florian whispered.

And it clearly led downward.

He stood there for another moment, staring at the painting.

Something about Eldrick's painted smile made his skin crawl.

Then Florian slowly turned away.

'That's… a lot of information to process,' he thought.

He began walking back the way he came, keeping his steps quiet.

The last thing he needed was someone finding him wandering these halls in the middle of the night.

But one thought kept circling in his mind.

'Feed the rest,' he repeated silently.

Whatever was below that hidden passage…

It wasn't normal.

"I need to get back to my room before I throw up," Florian muttered under his breath as he hurried down the hall.

At first, he walked quickly.

Then faster.

Then he was practically running.

He didn't even know if running through the manor like this was allowed, but at that moment he truly didn't care.

His stomach twisted violently.

'Come on,' he thought miserably. 'Am I really supposed to be this sick already? Isn't there like...trimesters for this? Shouldn't it be light nausea?'

His eyes stung. His throat burned. That awful, rising sensation in his stomach was getting worse by the second.

Then he felt it.

The saliva.

Too much.

Uncontrollable.

That horrible warning sign his body was giving him.

Florian immediately sped up.

"Shit," he whispered under his breath. "No, no, no…"

'Fuck, I'm going to throw up again,' he thought desperately.

His room was just ahead.

Almost there.

Just a little further.

His vision blurred slightly as he rushed forward, his focus entirely on reaching the door before disaster struck.

Because of that, he barely noticed the tall figure standing in the hallway.

His eyes registered it.

But his mind didn't.

Not until he ran straight into it.

"Ah—blegh!!"

Yeah.

That was exactly what happened.

Fortunately for Florian, the man's reflexes were fast. Strong arms wrapped around him instantly, steadying him before he could fall face-first onto the floor.

Unfortunately…

Florian threw up.

Directly onto the man.

All of it.

"I'm sorry… I'm so… sorry…"

Florian's voice came out weak and shaky as he stared down at the mess he had just made.

For a moment, he couldn't even move.

His stomach still churned, his throat burned, and humiliation flooded through him so quickly it made his chest hurt.

'I just threw up on someone,' he thought miserably. 'I actually just threw up on someone.'

He wanted to disappear.

His eyes stung again.

Then he realized something.

He was already crying.

Tears slid down his face without him noticing when they had started.

"Your Highness…"

The voice sounded startled.

Concerned.

"When they said you were sick, I didn't realize it was this bad. Fuck. Are you alright? Do I need to call someone?"

Florian blinked through his tears.

Lancelot.

Of course, it was Lancelot.

And he had just thrown up all over him.