‘Oh no. He’s going stone-faced.’
She added hastily, watching his expression:
“Of — of course, if it’s a bother, you absolutely don’t have to. I was just thinking it would be nice to stay in contact, that’s all — please don’t take it too seriously. Really, you don’t have to do any of it.”
She waved her hands in a reassuring gesture.
But the silence held, and Kael’s face remained unreadable.
‘I’ve dug myself deeper.’
“I — I was genuinely just curious about your day. What you eat, where you go… I had no intention of making things tiresome or wearing out my welcome.”
Growing self-conscious, she dropped her gaze.
‘What if he asks me outright whether I think I’m playing house with him? That would be terrifying. He’d be absolutely fearsome if he were actually angry.’
“Is that all?”
She looked up slowly. Kael had raised one eyebrow at a slightly crooked angle.
“I beg your pardon?”
“What you wanted to ask of me.”
“Oh — yes, for now.”
She nodded awkwardly.
‘His expression suggests he’s already composing a long internal list of grievances about me.’
The complete blankness of his face was genuinely unnerving. But thinking back to how thoroughly he had stiffened a moment ago, she felt certain.
It was possible — maybe even likely — that he would call off the whole thing as early as tomorrow.
* * *
The following morning, a letter arrived from Kael.
She bounced on her heels as Emily handed it over.
“Emily — I’m certain about this.”
“Certain about what?”
“This letter. It’s definitely his way of telling me it’s over.”
“Is that so?”
“He must have been completely put off by how persistent I was yesterday.”
“Really? You think that was enough?”
“Yes. Because the moment I brought it up, his face went completely stiff. He looked almost angry.”
“My goodness, did he really?”
“He was cursing me with his eyes, I’m sure of it. I was so determined going in, but honestly — he’s still terrifying.”
“Congratulations, Miss. You managed the impossible. You must have well and truly worn him out. Shall we read it?”
With a faint flutter of anticipation, she tore the envelope open.
‘Probably something along the lines of: I’m sorry, but let’s call off the wedding.’
“…What is this.”
Had she misread something?
She narrowed her eyes and held the letter at arm’s length.
At the top of the first page was the following:
‘There were no outings yesterday; the only person in attendance at the estate was my aide Hugo. On future dates involving any outing, companion, or change of location, I will provide a full account. As there is nothing of that nature to report for yesterday’s date, there is no additional information to include.’
Below that — filling the rest of the page — was a complete report of the day’s business affairs and a detailed list of every document he had processed. The list was organized as a chronological chart, divided into time blocks, covering the entire sheet.
Looking at it made the room swim slightly.
“Wait — what is this? What is this actually?”
The words tumbled out of her mouth in sheer bewilderment.
“…Mm.”
Emily, reading alongside her, was also visibly taken aback. She seemed unable to find anything useful to say.
Something was wrong. She tilted her head. A dull ache was beginning to form behind one temple.
This was not right.
And then she noticed — there was a second sheet of paper.
“Miss? There’s another page. Let’s look at that too.”
“…Yes.”
Her fingertips had gone cold. She flipped to the next page with a blank expression.
* * *
‘May 2nd — Morning, Midday, and Evening Meals’
‘Morning: French toast, fruit salad, black coffee.’
Impression of morning meal: The mildness of the French toast paired well with the clean finish of the black coffee, while the fruit salad provided a pleasant freshness. The combination worked well together.
‘Midday: Cream soup, beef cutlet, cucumber salad.’
Impression of midday meal: The rich, smooth cream soup complemented the beef cutlet well. A combination that could easily have been too heavy, but the cucumber salad balanced it out to a satisfactory degree.
‘Evening: Beef steak (rare), chicken breast salad.’
Impression of evening meal: I tend to keep dinner light, focused on protein. I prefer my steak rare. The accompanying sauce complemented the clean flavor of the meat well. The salad helped cut through any heaviness and rounded out the meal.
* * *
“…”
“…”
Furthermore — beneath each meal entry was a subsection of detailed notes.
The subsection listed the origin of each ingredient, the weight of raw components, and a breakdown of carbohydrate, protein, and fat ratios, all carefully calculated and recorded.
She could not believe what she was looking at. She turned the pages over, and then over again, examining both sheets with the dogged hope that she had somehow missed something.
Emily reached across the table and gently covered her restless hands with both of her own.
“Miss. You should give up.”
“I can’t. I just — how could he—”
Then Emily paused, and touched the bottom of the second sheet with one finger, curious.
“Oh — Miss, there’s something else written down here.”
At the very bottom of the second page, marked with an asterisk, was an additional note.
‘Ivelina. For more efficient communication going forward, I believe some additional arrangement will be necessary.’
‘I will shortly assign a reliable personal guard to serve as a dedicated point of contact between us.’
‘Should there be any sudden outings, I will have him relay the relevant information to you directly.’
“How is this — Emily, what is this?”
“It seems you set out to remove a wart and came home with two.”
“That’s how it looks to you too, doesn’t it.”
“Yes. Going forward, every move you make will be communicated to the ducal estate via the personal guard.”
“What do I do? Am I being watched now?”
“Though, Miss — you were the one who introduced the idea of constant contact first. It would be rather awkward to refuse now.”
“…”
“Having a shadow and personal guard in place does solve the logistical problem rather neatly — it creates a direct channel, which makes communication swift and easy on both sides. That seems to be what he was going for. And it conveniently lets him keep an eye on your safety at the same time…”
‘I went in clingy, and came out surveilled.’
No.
What exactly had just happened?
* * *
Several days later.
“I’m going out of my mind.”
The third letter of the day had just arrived.
Kael had been reporting on his daily schedule without omission — and if anything, the reports were growing more detailed with each passing day. The frequency had increased as well. The first day it had been one letter; now two or three was standard. He documented how many times he had bathed. On days he went out, he calculated the travel time by carriage and included it. She had known he was a busy man, but apparently genuinely busy these days — the work-status reports had grown lengthier by the day.
She chewed on a thumbnail and worked her way through the dense content.
There were no gaps. No overlooked entries. She had half-expected him to get tired of it and stop — but the handwriting was neat and unwavering throughout, as though none of this cost him anything at all.
Emily sipped her tea and remarked lightly:
“Oh — he’s also purchased land in the western mining region? They say the yields have been declining steadily. There are rumors the deposits are nearly exhausted; prices have dropped sharply. Could he have been cheated? The Western Duke is known to be a rather unscrupulous sort.”
“No. That land is a gold mine waiting to happen. There’s a deposit of magic ore buried underneath, about thirty feet down. Leave it alone for three years and it’ll be worth dozens of times what it cost. He bought well.”
In the original novel, the Western Duke sold that land for a pittance and spent years afterward consumed by regret.
She marked the transaction with a small circle and turned the page without further comment.
Reviewing his decisions in this much detail was making her quietly anxious — it was hard not to wonder whether she ought to say something if she spotted a poor choice.
“He’s also acquired land in the eastern Dorman territory. That area’s considered too barren for farming — nothing grows there, by most accounts.”
“It’s backed by mountains with water running through on three sides. Develop it properly and the growth potential is enormous. The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.”
In the original story, the Dorman region went on to become the largest grain-producing area in the east.
She marked that one approved as well. He’d made a good call.
But how did he know all of this? Did he have some kind of foresight?
No. Surely it was coincidence. The original novel had no characters with prophetic ability.
