Anota Island—we’d arrived at last!
I could barely contain myself, my shoulders bouncing with excitement and a giddy, helpless grin spreading across my face.
“It’s enormous! I was imagining something much smaller!”
I had pictured a modest scrap of sandy shoreline with a single cottage perched on it. In reality, the island was the size of a small city.
‘Of course.’ My husband, master of the empire’s finest fortune—what else should I have expected.
I took his hand and stepped into the villa, which was the size of a castle.
‘Oh! How fearsome-looking!’
The moment we entered, I was confronted by the most ferocious-looking man I had ever seen, and I bolted immediately behind my husband’s back.
“Welcome back, my lord.”
“Good to be back. Any trouble while I was away?”
“None at all, my lord. Quiet as ever, thanks to you.”
The man’s eyes met mine for a brief moment. I pressed myself even more firmly against Kael’s back.
“Oh, my lady! It is a great honor to meet you. I’m Hunt Ravel, the caretaker of Anota Island.”
The name alone was suitably formidable. He was, apparently, a former hunter.
“Oh! Oh, I see! You take care of the island! I’m very glad to meet you, Hunt! Please take good care of us!”
“Now, now. You are the duchess, my lady. You needn’t stand on ceremony with me. This old man doesn’t know what to do with such kindness.”
Hunt gave a respectful bow, his eyes warm. I scratched at my cheek with a sheepish smile.
“I tend to take a long time to drop formality with people… but I’ll do my best!”
That was entirely true. I still hadn’t fully relaxed my speech with even the servants at the ducal manor, though I was working on it diligently.
“Just as I’ve heard—truly angelic, my lady. Ha—in all my years, I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you. This old man is quite beside himself.”
“Oh, no—not at all! The Duchess Mother is far more beautiful than I am.”
The sudden torrent of praise made my cheeks and ears burn hot, and I had to fan myself with my hand to cool down.
“To think I must leave for my holiday just now, when I’ve finally met you, my lady. What a terrible shame.”
“H—holiday? You’re leaving today?”
“Yes. I’ve already packed. I’ll be back in a month.”
“Oh… I see. That really is a shame. Oh! Wait—!”
I had brought small gifts for the three staff members working on the island.
Macaron sets and tea bags from a famous dessert shop in the duchy.
I snatched one of the three orange paper bags from Kael’s hands and held it out to Hunt.
“Please take this. I brought things for everyone here. Living on an island, I thought these might be a little hard to come by.”
“My goodness—thank you so much, my lady. My granddaughter adores macarons. She’ll be over the moon.”
“I’m so glad! If you’re back in a month, that means you’ll return just as we’re leaving?”
“That’s right. Still, at least I’ll be here to see you off. That’s something.”
“Then take good care while we’re here! Have a wonderful holiday, Hunt!”
And with that, Hunt departed for his month of leave.
“How do you do, my lady. I’m Sola Miller, the villa’s housekeeper.”
“Oh! A pleasure, Sola!”
Sola had spent twenty years on the island caring for the villa. She remembered all of Kael’s childhood visits, she said.
“Lovely to meet you, Sola! And this is something I brought for you—”
I snatched a second paper bag from Kael before he could say anything. Sola’s eyes went wide.
“You prepared a gift for ‘me’, my lady? I’m deeply touched. How warm you are—and as beautiful as your kindness suggests.”
“…Not at all—honestly, compared to Kael I’m perfectly ordinary. Anyway, I hope we’ll get along wonderfully for the next month!”
“I do wish I could stay and chat—there’s so much I’d love to talk about with you, my lady. But as it happens, my holiday falls right now.”
“H—holiday?”
“Yes. I’ll be back in a month. Though I’m very glad I’ll be here for your farewell.”
“Oh… how unfortunate. But there’s nothing to be done. Please enjoy your holiday, Sola!”
And Sola, too, was gone—practically sprinting out the door. Whatever holiday plans these people had must have been terribly urgent. They all looked like people making a very hasty escape.
“Good day, my lady. I’m Morgan, the groundskeeper and cook here at the villa.”
“Goodness—groundskeeper and cook both! You must be a person of many talents!”
“Ha. I do have a reasonably good eye. Though in truth, gardening and cooking have a great deal in common.”
“Oh, how interesting!”
“It would have been about fifty years ago, in the eastern provinces. There was a poor cook who, at the age of five, began—”
Kael’s low, measured voice cut through smoothly.
“Morgan. Shouldn’t you be setting off soon?”
“Ah—yes! Right! The holiday—of course! Ahem!”
Morgan cleared his throat rapidly at Kael’s tone.
“I’ll be taking my leave, then! Best wishes for a wonderful stay, my lady!”
“Oh—wait. You’re going on holiday too, Morgan? Starting today?”
“Yes. I’ll return in precisely one month. Please do take care of yourself until then, my lady!”
“Oh—wait, take this—a gift for you!”
I lunged forward and rescued the last paper bag from Kael. Morgan lowered both brows with exaggerated sorrow.
“Goodness. To think you prepared something for me as well, lowly as I am. The world is truly unfair—that one person should have beauty, kindness, ‘and’ a gentle soul all at once…”
“Pardon?”
Morgan gave a broad, cheerful smile and continued.
“And such modesty… ‘sigh.’ One last thing—please don’t worry about meals. Fresh ingredients will be delivered daily through Janes, and he’s a fine hand in the kitchen.”
“Oh! Janes can cook, too? I thought his only role was—”
“He trained at a culinary academy, my lady. He’ll work like a ghost—leaving every meal quietly prepared and then disappearing from sight—so please think of it as though you and the master are entirely alone here. Make yourselves wonderfully, perfectly comfortable.”
I hadn’t known! A shadow operative with culinary training! The ducal household really was full of extraordinary people.
“Then I’ll leave you to it. Safe and happy travels, my lady, my lord!”
Morgan rattled off his answers rapid-fire, shouldered an enormous bag of luggage, and bolted for the door as though running from something.
I’d been looking forward to getting to know the island’s people, and now they had all vanished on holiday before I’d had a chance to exchange more than a few words.
“It must really be the holiday season. Everyone leaving today and coming back in exactly a month. What a shame…”
I murmured to myself, holding Kael’s hand and gazing around the empty villa.
The interior was enormous—easily as spacious as the rear wing of the ducal manor—with ceilings so high they were almost theatrical.
I gave his hand a gentle swing and looked up at him.
“Kael—you know, if we both died in here, nobody would know for quite some time. Don’t you think?”
“…”
He didn’t answer.
A chill ran down my spine.
* * *
