Ave didn't wake as early as everyone else in the palace, who had been woken up by the loud scream of a woman after finding the hanging body, because the room she was given was at the end of the palace, far away from the entrance so she was spared from all the commotion that had taken place. She woke up with a smile on her face, having never enjoyed her sleep this much since she'd been thrust into this world.
Sitting up in bed and putting aside the pillow she found herself hugging, which held Lucian's lingering scent, she glanced at the side he had slept in last night and found it empty, as expected. She didn't expect him to sleep in until she woke up, and she was somehow glad he wasn't here, it would have been awkward and embarrassing to wake up to his erection again like the other day.