章 230: Are you really going to defy me, Adeline Shad Clementine?

"You've even been sleeping in a separate room from me for weeks. What did I do wrong? It's not like me to make mistakes, and you've never been like this. What's going on, Adeline?" Uzana urged.

"I… It's hard to explain." She stammered.

"Try me,"

"It's… it's about work—."

"Liar." He cut her line like a knife.

Her eyes flickering nervously toward the candle sconces casting flickering shadows on the stone walls.

"I must return swiftly to the alchemical chambers to tend to the blood samples of you and Ragnar," she declared, her voice urgent yet tinged with concern.

Uzana, leaning against the wooden table strewn with parchments and a quill, raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"You've been avoiding me for weeks now," he remarked, his tone edged with frustration. "Are you sure you're telling me everything? You've been distant of late."

Adeline hesitated, her fingers tightening around the leather-bound tome she clutched.