Emily took her time, turning the thought over carefully.
“Well? Tell me! I want to know!”
Emily let out a quiet breath — almost a laugh — and spoke with complete confidence.
“Think carefully, Miss. What kind of woman do you think men instinctively dislike?”
“…If I knew that, I would have been broken up with already.”
Emily cleared her throat once, and leaned in slightly.
“Think back to what Edwin, your father, and your mother each said to you.”
‘What did those three have in common?’
She rested her chin in her hand and tried to remember.
If Emily was pointing to those three specifically, they must have said something similar.
‘Think. What was it.’
‘”A man’s nature is simply what it is. It’s different from a woman’s. A woman must prioritize propriety above all — keeping herself pure and conducting herself with modesty.”‘
‘”Men are just that way, dear. Their nature is different from ours. A virtuous wife understands her husband, keeps her place, and supports him with patience.”‘
‘”Men and women aren’t the same. The more experience a woman has, the less appealing she becomes. Men instinctively dislike women like that. She’s fine for passing entertainment, perhaps — but no man in his right mind would marry such a woman.”‘
“…Could it be?”
“Exactly. A forward woman. An experienced woman.”
Emily pointed directly at her.
‘Of course.’ How had she not thought of it sooner?
Three people had said it. Not one — three.
A man who actually prefers an experienced woman simply doesn’t exist. Women are meant to preserve their virtue and carry themselves with modesty.
“You’re right! My parents said it. That men prefer a woman who is quiet and proper, who keeps the home well. And Edwin said essentially the same thing. I know he did.”
“Could you tell me specifically what Edwin said to you, Miss? The details.”
“Let me think.”
She cast her memory back to past conversations with Edwin and recounted them for Emily.
‘”Look at that. I can’t stand women who dress like that just to get men’s attention.”‘
‘”If you can’t stand it, don’t look. That’s rich, coming from the person who was staring.”‘
‘”Women like that almost certainly have a lot of experience. Disgusting.”‘
‘”Does everyone else have to be like you?”‘
‘”I’m a man. If anything, inexperienced men are the ones who lose appeal. You have to be good at these things for your wife to love you properly.”‘
‘”What absolute rubbish.”‘
‘”Come on. It’s not just me — all men are the same. Who wants a woman with that much experience? Even if you’re with someone like that, it’s just for amusement. No man in his right mind marries someone like that.”‘
‘”Please stop saying such embarrassing things. Even a seventy-year-old grandfather would tell you you’ve gone too far.”‘
‘”You think I’m wrong? Honestly, Ivelina, I’ll give you credit for being innocent.”‘
“Women become less appealing the more experience they have — but men become more appealing the more they have.”
“Hm…”
“And I was engaged to that for ten years. Awful. Absolutely revolting.”
She scrubbed her arms repeatedly with both hands as though trying to erase the memory.
But Emily, who had been listening without comment, spoke then with the confidence of someone who had reached a conclusion.
“It’s worth attempting.”
“…But would it actually work on Kael? He’s completely different from Edwin. He doesn’t seem like the type to go around indulging himself with every woman he meets.”
As far as she knew, Kael was not a typical nobleman in that regard. The obsessive way he had preserved his own virtue made that clear enough. Why he had chosen to surrender it to her of all people was a mystery she couldn’t begin to solve.
“Which is precisely why it might work, don’t you think? In a way, someone who values his own purity that much is extraordinarily conservative. He might care deeply about this kind of thing.”
“…Conservative?”
“Miss — have you ever actually told him about your own past experience? In any detail?”
She had a vague memory of mentioning it — something about it being her first time too — though she couldn’t quite recall whether she had or not. The meeting in the Florence estate had been so fraught with nerves that the finer details had blurred.
“…I can’t remember.”
“Admittedly, the straightforward approach might not be quite right. I’ve already determined that he’s not the type to be crude about these things, the way Edwin is.”
“That’s what I think too.”
“So let’s adjust it slightly.”
“Adjust it how?”
“Has there been a time when ‘you’ reached for ‘him’ first — before he reached for you?”
Emily chose her words with delicate care.
The meaning wasn’t difficult to infer.
Something quietly embarrassed moved through her. She let her gaze drift away from Emily.
“…I don’t think so.”
“Then — adjusting from the direct approach — the idea is to become a woman who makes the first move.”
A woman who makes the first move. What kind of first move?
“What kind of first move?”
“You going for ‘him’ first. The whole process of… you know, Miss. You do know.”
“…”
She stared at Emily blankly.
“Words can only go so far, so let’s start with practical drills.”
* * *
Emily slipped down to the laundry room and returned with her father’s shirt, borrowed in secret.
She put it on over her uniform, fastening every button from the first to the last with meticulous care, then stood facing Ivelina and instructed her to undo them.
“…”
She had never unbuttoned a man’s shirt with her own hands.
Unfamiliar with the angle and the resistance, her fingers kept slipping and catching wrong.
“This is actually quite difficult. My own buttons are easy, but why is this so—”
“Miss?”
“Yes?”
Emily bit her lip once, firmly, before speaking in a careful, serious tone.
“You genuinely don’t know anything at all, do you. Am I mistaken?”
“Oh — well. He always… did everything. I didn’t really… I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“…”
“I said earlier, didn’t I. I genuinely can’t do anything. There was never any room for me to try…”
“I see.”
She nodded — and felt so mortified she wanted to dissolve directly into the floor.
Heat flooded her face. Her cheeks were burning; she could practically feel warm steam rising from her scalp.
“The thing is, Miss — you’re quite inexperienced. It would be best to practice as much as possible. Posture, expression, that sort of thing. At least that way you might appear a little more capable.”
“But we’re running out of time. My parents will be here soon. Is one or two days of practice really going to make me look competent?”
“That’s enough. Two days, well spent. Let’s do it properly.”
“All right. The adjusted direct approach — let’s try it!”
They began with the shirt buttons and moved through the basics of posture and position.
It was harder than she’d expected.
But she practiced with absolute dedication. Marriage to Kael had to be avoided at all costs.
* * *
Back at the estate, Kael was settling into his chair when a voice surfaced unexpectedly in his memory and he let out a quiet, involuntary laugh.
‘”I am going to get broken up with by you. I absolutely guarantee it. Kael Hardeion!”‘
She claimed she was too frightened to say his name — demanded he promise not to raise his voice before she could speak — and yet here she was, getting his name exactly right when she thought no one could hear.
Cowering in front of him and putting on such a thoroughly terrified performance, then turning around and puffing herself up like that the moment his back was turned.
“Cheeky little thing.”
His endearing little fiancée was putting that small head of hers to very creative use.
No matter how he thought about it, it was absurd and faintly ridiculous.
Kael settled deeper into his chair and closed his eyes.
The image came without being summoned — Ivelina’s gold hair catching the light, her green eyes clear and luminous and faintly damp, like leaves after summer rain. And the texture of her skin, pale to the point of translucence, soft and yielding…
Even with the suppressant, that particular ache settled in low. Was the thing even working at all.
He opened his eyes slowly.
His cheeky little fiancée was in need of a suitable lesson.
Something to ensure the thought of running ever left her mind for good.
“Hugo.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Have a notice published.”
* * *
‘Duke Kael Hardeion to Wed.’
‘The Duke of Hardeion has announced his engagement.’
‘His intended is the daughter of the Florence earldom. The two are said to have come together through a most natural and fated acquaintance.’
‘By all accounts of those who have witnessed her, the young Lady Florence possesses a beauty so luminous it threatens to blind those who behold it directly. Her smile is said to be like a flower in full bloom; her voice, graceful as a drifting butterfly. She is, by common consensus, the most beautiful woman in the Empire.’
‘The pair, united by destiny, have progressed from courtship to an engagement to be married.’
‘According to the Duke of Hardeion himself, she is his first love, his first woman, and his first companion in every sense.’
‘One close source reports that the Duke declared she would also be his last.’
‘The wedding is anticipated to take place in the late spring.’
* * *
‘What is this.’
“What the — what is ‘this’?!”
* * *
