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His Highness had been different, of late. Where before, the man had acted so reserved and hardly even visible in comparison to the Queen, now he was full of life and enthusiasm in virtually everything he did. And he seemed increasingly given to making spur-of-the-moment decisions, as well.

Lynnette had started noticing this behavioral shift a while ago, but here at Warrenhold, it was more obvious than ever. This whole trip still struck her as a bit strange, honestly.

It wasn't her place to question these things aloud, of course, but given the turbulent times currently facing the nation, she felt that she should be on the lookout for any and all possible warning signs. That was why, at first, she'd had the dreadful thought that perhaps King William had decided to stay at Warrenhold a bit longer because he wanted more time away from the Queen.

Thankfully, however, that worry was promptly obliterated when she noticed the King talking to the Queen over the phone for over two hours straight before finally going to sleep. She'd only intended to check on him, not eavesdrop from the other side of his door, but that was exactly what she'd ended up doing.

And now she was confident. They definitely were not having marital problems.

Never in her life had Lynnette ever gone so quickly from feeling relieved to annoyed. It had been like listening to an adolescent couple talking over the phone for the very first time.

It did get her thinking, though. If the King wasn't trying to get away from his wife, then what exactly was the point of spending so much time here? Obviously, he was enjoying himself, but was that really all it was?

She considered just asking him directly, but for some reason, she found that difficult. She had a pretty good rapport with the Queen, but she'd never really found the opportunity to build anything similar with the King. It felt somehow improper to question His Highness like that, especially with so many people around.

At length, however, on their third day at Warrenhold, she finally came up with a workaround to that problem.

She could just ask Hector.