[ Looking at it like this, it really is just a very thick wheel — the edges of it rubber instead of wood, modular in a way that makes it easier to make minute repairs like this. It's a marvel she can appreciate, even if it's not to the level that Arlecchino seems to have an affinity for. Lucina's gaze follows as the tire's set aside before it snaps back up. ]

Ah. [ She's not looking to lie here, not exactly. If she were to be asked outright, she'd have no real issue with admitting her role in Grima's fall. But ... maybe the idea of calling herself the leader of anything sits strangely. Maybe it's something else, entirely; she's not sure, and it's not something she's interested in examining right now. ] My father often sat at court. [ As... the Exalt. But anyway. ] He never admitted it to us, but he looked as though the life had been drained out of him at the end of the day.

[ The smile's fonder now, if muted. All over the memory of a man who really only exists from her youth. There's a shrug of her shoulders. Candidly— ] By the time I was old enough to take his place, we were past the point of diplomacy. [ That's the truth. ]