“Emily?”
“Yes, my lady. What are you doing out here — mmph.”
I covered her mouth before she could finish.
“‘Shhh!'”
Our voices might carry into the receiving room.
I checked quickly behind us, waited for a quiet moment, and slipped out of the main house with Emily before anyone could notice.
“Emily! Where have you been all day?”
“I helped Mr. Brendan, repaired the iron frame near the hunting ground, and ran an errand for the Dowager Duchess.”
‘Goodness. That’s exactly the order I went looking.’
How had we managed to miss each other every single time?
“You really did all of that?”
“Of course. I only just finished the last errand.”
“I already knew you were efficient, Emily — but this is something else.”
“I suppose so. Anyway — why were you looking for me?”
“I think we need to find a solution. Urgently.”
“What sort of solution?”
“A way to break the engagement.”
“Hmm.”
‘Should I tell her?’
Reincarnation, transmigration — Emily wouldn’t believe any of that. And then there was the matter of Kayrin’s hobby of dissecting animals and plants. And Carson’s taxidermy. And Katherine bathing in the blood of young maids.
Speaking about those things so openly felt wrong. After all, it amounted to gossiping about other people and passing it to a third party.
‘I’ll talk around it. Keep it indirect.’
“There’s something I haven’t told you. The real reason I want to break the engagement.”
“What is it?”
“I have recurring nightmares. About dying in this estate.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. And I’ve been having vivid dreams since I was young. Very specific ones.”
“Yes.”
“And they’ve almost always come true. The important things, especially.”
“…I’ll be honest — until you said that, I was starting to think it was time to give up on convincing you. But now I’m not so sure.”
“Hmm?”
“Hearing about the dreams makes me uneasy. Because I have prophetic dreams too.”
“You — you do?”
That was entirely unexpected.
“Yes. Since my time at the orphanage, I used to dream about working as a maid in a count’s estate.”
“That’s astonishing.”
“And I dreamed about you quite often. That might be part of why we grew close so quickly.”
I had only spoken vaguely — I had never actually claimed to have prophetic dreams, just used them as a metaphor for the truth. But Emily’s words caught me completely off guard.
That particular thread of conversation could wait. Right now, I had a more pressing problem.
‘These people in this estate frighten me. They are exactly as described in the original novel.’
“Honestly — if the dreams are that accurate, it makes sense that you’ve been so desperate.”
“You see why, don’t you?”
“Completely.”
Emily gave a deep, sympathetic nod.
‘Oh, what am I going to do?’
I tangled my fingers in my hair in agitation.
“But what will you do? The servants are already calling you ‘my lady.'”
“Wait — seriously? Not just a few of them?”
“There isn’t a single person who still calls you ‘Lady Ivelina.'”
“…That’s a serious problem.”
“And on top of that — the Dowager Duchess, the former Duke, and Young Lord Kayrin speak of nothing but you.”
The engagement seemed to be slipping further away with every passing day.
‘What on earth can I do?’
I turned it over frantically in my mind. The formal meeting between families that Kael had arranged was scheduled for next week.
‘Wait. The family meeting.’
“Hold on! Emily, what about this?”
“What?”
“I could ask Mother to do something at the family meeting. To make it go… wrong somehow.”
“At the meeting? Like what?”
Emily hadn’t thought of this either — her eyebrows went into triangles.
“Get her to oppose the marriage. Say she won’t accept a wedding her mother objects to.”
“For that plan to work, your mother would need to be against the Duke. Is that even possible?”
“Why not?”
“You saw it yourself, my lady. When the Duke proposed the groom lessons, she was overjoyed.”
‘Right. That was true.’
I still didn’t quite understand what had made Mother change her attitude so dramatically that day, but I remembered vividly how hard she had cried. I had sobbed myself, convinced I was being dragged off to the Hardeion estate.
‘Then should I appeal to Father?’
‘No. He was furious enough over the Edwin business. If I tell him I want another broken engagement, he might finish me off entirely.’
“I don’t know if Mother will listen to me — but she’s still more of a possibility than Father, isn’t she?”
“Honestly, in the current situation, I’m skeptical.”
“I thought as much…”
My confidence deflated, and my voice trailed off accordingly.
I was standing there with my lip pushed out when Emily offered another option.
“My lady — what if you spoke to her directly about the dreams?”
“Tell her I’ve been having nightmares?”
“Yes. If you’re sincere about it, there might be a real chance. Or — you could take something that actually happened, add a small embellishment, and say you dreamed it. That wouldn’t be the worst approach either.”
“Oh — that’s actually a good idea.”
But it meant lying to Mother.
That sat uncomfortably.
“It’s a very good plan, but — I feel a little guilty about it.”
“There’s a remedy for that.”
“What is it?”
“Think of your conscience as something detachable. Once you stop treating it as permanent, life gets considerably easier.”
Something lightened in my chest immediately.
“And honestly — your mother is a much better prospect than your father anyway.”
“Right! So — it’s the weekend tomorrow, isn’t it. Let’s go home together. What do you think?”
* * *
‘Am I hallucinating?’
On the way back to the annex, I had just passed through the front gate when a figure stepped out of a carriage that had recently pulled in.
“Mother?”
“Oh my — Ivelina?”
‘It really was her.’
I grabbed my skirts and ran.
“Mother! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”
“I’ve run away from home.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m divorcing your father.”
“What?!”
“So I left everything behind. I didn’t want to touch a single piece of jewelry that man bought me.”
“But — Mother! Even so, this is rather sudden—”
“And how kind of the Duke to offer me a place to stay here.”
“Hang on—”
“My goodness. Such a thoughtful man. Truly warm-hearted.”
“……”
“Really. I believe allowing this marriage is the single best decision I have ever made in my life.”
‘I can’t believe this.’
I stood there in a daze, thoroughly empty.
‘I was planning to go to her tomorrow.’
“Countess.”
“Yes?”
“How do you do? I am Lizi — I’ll be looking after you from today onward.”
It was the very young maid I had seen before.
“Oh, how lovely to meet you.”
“I’ll show you to your rooms now, if you please.”
* * *
“Oh my goodness.”
Jane could not close her mouth.
Antique furnishings filled the room with quiet elegance. The windows faced south and let in an abundance of warm light — the room glowed as though a fire had been lit, though no hearth was burning.
“Is this truly where I’m to stay?”
“Yes, my lady. Please speak as you like — you are an honored guest here.”
“Oh, I couldn’t. I’m an uninvited one.”
“Not at all. His Grace instructed us to spare no consideration in making you comfortable.”
“Then I shall allow myself to relax by degrees. I’m still finding my footing.”
“Of course. Please ring the bell at any time if you need anything.”
Jane nodded her understanding.
The maid withdrew, and Jane was left alone.
The room was on the third floor of the annex — it had been converted from a sitting room once used by Katherine, which explained both its spaciousness and the quality of its light.
Jane looked around at her temporary lodgings. The dressing table held a jewelry box that appeared entirely new. The wardrobe was filled with gowns that appeared equally new. She moved past the vast bed and made her way to a small table by the window.
There, she found a folded note.
‘I will be away from the estate today and must defer my greeting until tomorrow. Everything in this room is new and has been prepared for your use — please make free with all of it.’
It was a note from Kael.
Jane thought to herself:
‘This is not a son-in-law I am willing to lose.’
* * *
