Mrs. Cessley’s voice trailed off at the end, voice full of worries and it was then that Alicia realized what the duchess meant.

Her expression hardened. “I’ve made it clear before that you shouldn’t have any hopes of a successor…”

“My Queen, that’s not it. I was just thinking that…”

“Perhaps you take my words as a joke, enough to simply ignore it?”

Hearing the queen’s cold and unexpected response, Mrs. Cessley’s expression flustered. She bit her lower lip and lowered her head.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I acted out of line and made a mistake. This won’t happen again.”

“…Just don’t say anything to him… or who I met...