She saw Camilla home herself, all the way to the Fortner Viscount estate.
“Camilla — if you need anything, tell me. I’ll help in any way I can.”
“Thank you, Ivelina. And… I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize to me for. Please don’t skip meals — you need to eat for two now.”
“…I will.”
Who could he possibly be, that worthless man.
Her own situation was what it was — but thinking of Camilla left a heaviness in her chest that wouldn’t lift.
‘She’s already walking on eggshells living in her uncle’s house, and now this.’
* * *
“I’ve got the intelligence.”
“What did you find out?”
She pulled the notes she had scribbled in the carriage on the way home from inside her dress.
“Apparently men really can’t stand clingy women.”
“Clingy.”
“From what I gathered — asking to share little daily things, like meal menus, tends to be very effective.”
“Hmm. That does sound grating, doesn’t it? Like filing a report.”
“Exactly.”
“Yes, I’d imagine he’d find it quite tiresome.”
She clenched both fists with resolve.
“Then I shall become the most legendarily clingy woman he’s ever encountered. He’ll be so sick of me he won’t know what to do with himself.”
Since they had already arranged to meet on the weekend, she sent a letter that very day requesting a visit the following morning — a Saturday.
Kael’s reply arrived that same evening.
She tore the envelope open without ceremony and read.
‘To Ivelina,’
‘I have a considerable volume of documents to work through tomorrow morning, so I won’t be able to come for you in person.’
‘I will send a carriage to the Florence estate instead.’
‘Eight o’clock, at the front gate.’
“He has other engagements in the afternoon tomorrow, it seems.”
“So it would appear. He is a very busy man.”
“A busy man who gets pestered and bothered will tire of things all the faster, don’t you think?”
“That does seem likely.”
“Excellent.”
‘Good. It’s lucky he’s so busy.’
She ran back over everything she had learned the day before. Then she retrieved her notebook and went through each point in careful detail, organizing her keywords and strategy one by one.
* * *
“Good morning. How do you do, Miss Ivelina. I’m Hugo Eaton, the Duke’s personal aide.”
Brown hair, green eyes. He had a clean, open, kind sort of face.
Behind him stood a gleaming black carriage that looked like something a very expensive and discreet establishment might use for private transportation.
“It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Ivelina Florence.”
“Yes, Miss. His Grace has quite a lot of remaining business to attend to, I’m afraid. I’ve come in his stead.”
‘He’s even busier than I thought.’
‘If I bother him when he’s this swamped, won’t it just make him irritable?’
“He must be very occupied. I’m happy to come another time, if that’s easier.”
“Not at all, Miss. His Grace was quite specific that today would suit.”
Hugo smiled pleasantly, but there was something rigidly composed about it — a professional brightness with an undercurrent of exhaustion, like the polished expression of a man who had learned to smile through anything.
‘He must have a lot on his plate.’
“Well then. I look forward to it, Hugo.”
“Right this way, Miss.”
Kael really did have a great deal of money, it turned out.
The inside of the carriage was considerably more opulent than she had anticipated. The rich brown leather of the seats bore no comparison to the Florence family’s own carriage, and she found herself genuinely worried that a fingernail or a decorative bead on her dress might scratch something.
‘Careful. Careful.’
She settled herself with great caution, arranged her skirt, and opened her notebook.
Best to review while she had the chance.
– Notify him whenever going out: destination required.
– Update when changing locations during the day.
– Report the names of anyone she meets.
– Report all three daily meals — morning, midday, and evening — with menus.
– Write frequently. ‘(A person needs time to bathe and sleep, so claiming to be too busy is not acceptable.)’
– This is basic courtesy between partners, and a measure of genuine affection.
Several of the items had been added after she and Emily had talked through the plan together.
Knowing Kael’s surgical precision of character, she was quite certain that even a woman he had promised to marry would be swiftly and thoroughly expelled from his life if subjected to this level of interference.
“Do you enjoy studying, Miss?”
“Me? I’m sorry?”
“You’ve been looking over your vocabulary cards with such dedication.”
Hugo smiled pleasantly.
‘Vocabulary cards.’
She put on a modest expression.
“Not really. Just making use of the time.”
“The diligence of a true scholar. Ah — it appears we’ve arrived.”
The Hardeion Duke’s townhouse was situated on the outskirts of the capital, a short distance from the city’s center.
She had read descriptions of it, but nothing had prepared her for seeing it in person.
‘That is not a townhouse. That is an entire castle.’
An immense stone structure filled her entire field of view — vast and imposing in a way that stopped her breath. It brought to mind the grand magical academies she had read about in fantasy novels in her past life.
“His Grace is presently in his study. I’ll show you up personally.”
She gave a resolute nod.
‘Remember. Make him thoroughly sick of you.’
Hugo led her through the grounds to the tallest of the central buildings — a soaring structure with a narrow spire — and through one corridor after another, until they stopped before a door considerably larger than the rest.
“His Grace is inside. I’ll leave you here, Miss.”
“Thank you, Hugo.”
Hugo withdrew with neat, unhurried steps and disappeared.
Left alone in the corridor, she took several slow, steadying breaths.
‘Knock. Knock.’
“Come in.”
* * *
She opened the door.
The room inside looked like a painting.
The study was decorated entirely in black. A floor-to-ceiling window ran the full length of one wall, offering an unobstructed view of the central garden and the grounds beyond. Kael sat with his back to the light, bent over a desk buried under paperwork, reviewing documents.
“One moment.”
“Of course.”
Through a mountain of stacked papers, she could make out his face. He was completely absorbed — frowning at whatever he was reading, then scrawling his signature with mechanical precision and flipping to the next page, over and over again. A second pile was forming on the other side of the desk. At last he looked up and their eyes met.
“I didn’t realize how busy you were. I’m sorry for turning up like this.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re welcome to come whenever you like.”
“Oh — right, yes.”
Caught off guard by the response, she was still hovering awkwardly near the door when Kael glanced toward the sofa in the center of the room and rose from his chair.
“Sit down.”
He settled into the seat of honor on the sofa and leaned back, turning his head to crack his neck on each side.
He did look tired, she noticed.
“So. What is it?”
“I — there’s something I’d like to ask of you!”
“I don’t intend to oblige.”
“‘Why not?'”
“The way you’re addressing me. I believe I mentioned you ought to change it.”
Oh.
“I — there’s something I’d like to ask of ‘Kael’!”
The words rang out across the study considerably louder than she had intended.
He blinked at her. She startled at the volume of her own voice.
“That — that was louder than I meant it to be. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. What is it you’d like to ask?”
“Well — we are, after all, in something like a courtship. Getting to know each other.”
“Yes.”
“So if we’re going to do that, I’d like to do it properly.”
‘Properly.’
He repeated the word to himself quietly, as though tasting it. He considered for a moment, then asked:
“For example?”
She cleared her throat.
“For example — I’d like to know about your days. I’m told couples generally share things about their daily lives with each other.”
“Such as.”
‘Look at that.’
‘His expression is already hardening.’
‘He’s already beginning to find me tiresome.’
“When you go out or attend to affairs outside the estate — you’ll be moving between places, naturally. So each time you change locations, I’d like to know where you’ve been, and if you meet with anyone, who that person was. Including any companions you had at the time. A brief account of that, sent to me once a day, would be wonderful.”
“…”
‘Ha. He looks flustered.’
‘Is this strategy actually working?’
‘Men really don’t like clingy women.’
She pressed on without stopping, taking care to keep her tone as gentle and courteous as possible. It would be disastrous if she actually made him angry.
“And one more thing. If we’re genuinely trying to get to know each other — surely knowing what the other person is eating is a natural part of that? It is a part of their day, after all. So if you could let me know each morning, midday, and evening what you had and whether it was to your liking — a brief impression for each meal would be lovely. Claiming you don’t have time, by the way, isn’t a valid excuse — everyone has time to bathe and sleep, so a few moments carved from that should be entirely possible.”
Kael pressed his lips together.
A cold ripple ran down her spine.
* * *
