She nods, because yes, there's a reason she was mocking herself about convenience a moment ago. She'll accept the general thrust of Bianca's judgment, but she also thinks it's incomplete.

"I buried all of my immediate family, including my husband. After he was killed, I set aside any chance of having children, and guarded against any public hint of liaisons that might lead to children. And I stayed in that personal and political limbo of ex-monarch now equal for the other Houses, and committed widow, for nearly two decades. Long enough for a generation to grow up under the new system of government." She reaches for the bottle to take another swig.

"Might be the blink of an eye for you, but I was tired."