Chapter 56: Until you ask me to leave

"You can rest here tonight. I'll ask one of the servants to get new clothes for you." He paused, cocking his head to the side. "Can you strip?"

The question was out of the blue and it shocked her. Her heartbeat took a dip as her eyes grew wide. She had never spotted a woman with him. The rumor was that he barely kept any by his side- a hermit for as long as the servants could remember. But she had seen him with a woman before. Who was-

"Eve? Are you there?" Nikolai asked, his brows scrunching in confusion. 

"Oh," Eve said, embarrassed to be caught wandering off. How was she supposed to respond to such a question? She wondered, debating in her head if she should tell him that she hardly knew him or scream at him for trying to push her while she was wounded. "I-"