Who could have ever thought that she might loathe that expression more than the first time she saw it? Certainly not her. Still, Nariko waited and did her best to retain some hope that it wasn't really that bad. Maybe a complicated scuffle, maybe something to do with Jacquard, but she knew that wasn't the case even as she smiled politely at Alain, still doing nothing more to hide herself.

The maid did her job while Nariko caught snippets of their talk, and answered every glance that came her way with a raised brow. Did they expect her to be somewhere else? Or to magically fly up from the bed and attack one of them? She wasn't exactly in a state to run off. But for Alain, who had already survived the formality of the wedding itself and now this, she could manage to brush off the irritation. "I know, Alain, I hope you are alright." She wasn't so far off that she hadn't been able to bend a bit to catch sight of the blood.

Genuine concern or not, though, the sooner Alain was gone the sooner she would be tasked with figuring out the state of her husband. If she trusted her instincts and the lines of his body then she would be forced to admit that there might not be any reclaiming the calm they'd found. But what were instincts? Annoying, that was what they were ... And hopefully wrong.