Chapter 12

• Cathrine’s POV
• The hall was filled to the brim with servants, all of them moving in a hurried dance of exhaustion and routine. The clatter of wooden bowls and the murmur of quiet conversations surrounded me, and for a moment, I felt the weight of it all press down on me like an invisible cloak. The workers wore expressions of fatigue, their hands stained from a day’s labor, but there was a quiet rhythm to their movements—a silent understanding that today was just another day in a never-ending cycle.
• I spotted Peter standing in the kitchen doorway, his broad frame outlined against the flickering light inside. As soon as he saw me, a flicker of recognition passed over his face, and he pushed away from the doorframe to meet me.