Emily’s eyes went cold.
Ivelina stood perfectly still, eyes round as saucers—like a squirrel who’d just had her acorn stolen right out of her hands.
The circle of guests that had gathered around them went quiet all at once.
Hugo, who had stumbled into the exact midpoint between Ivelina and Emily, flailed in mortification.
“I—I’m so sorry!”
He bowed so low his head very nearly touched the ground, again and again. Kael, arms folded, watched the scene and clicked his tongue in quiet disapproval.
Emily had been observing Hugo in silence. Now she fixed him with a composed, expressionless stare, her brow furrowed only slightly.
Hugo shuffled toward her like a malfunctioning automaton, joints seizing at every step, and held out the bouquet.
“I—I’m really sorry, Emily. Someone pushed me hard from behind, and I…”
“Watch where you’re going.”
“Y—yes… I really am sorry.”
Emily retrieved the bouquet with a cool, clipped remark.
Hugo’s face, still bowed low, had gone the color of a burst tomato.
Laughter broke out from every direction. Of all the people laughing, the loudest and most boisterous was Brandon the gardener—who happened to be the very man who had shoved Hugo into the circle in the first place.
Hugo scratched the back of his head, face still burning red. Emily lifted the bouquet high and gave it a triumphant wave. A quiet smile settled at the corner of her lips.
* * *
After the ceremony, the reception began.
The brilliant blue of the afternoon sky had softened into deep indigo as the sun made its retreat. Beneath the gentle glow of moonlight, small yellow lanterns scattered throughout the garden sparkled to life, each one warm and cheerful against the growing dark.
Guests had gathered in clusters of two and three around the white tables scattered across the grounds, filling the air with animated chatter and laughter.
Before long, the Duke and Duchess reappeared in their reception attire, and another round of cheers erupted across the garden.
Ivelina wore a dress in the exact shade of Kael’s crimson eyes, a rose tucked into the hair above one ear. Kael, in a sharp black formal suit, had added a single deliberate touch—a pocket square in the soft green of Ivelina’s eyes.
The two of them moved hand in hand through the garden, offering their thanks to each guest in turn.
At the family table, the former Duke and Duchess—Kael’s parents—sat alongside Jane Florence, watching the couple with warmth as they exchanged unhurried conversation.
“Truly, whose daughter-in-law is she? She’s so lovely and dear. How a grown woman of over twenty can still be so utterly adorable—I really do think you live long enough and you’ll see wonders. It’s a miracle.”
“I quite agree. And whose son-in-law is he? How can anyone be that magnificent? I swear, he becomes more handsome with every passing day.”
“He does, doesn’t he? And Ivelina—honestly, she surprises me every single day. I’m not too proud to admit that I want to pinch her cheeks at least once a week—she’s quite beyond my self-control. Her heart is as beautiful as her face; the praise for the duchess has spread absolutely everywhere. As you may know, our family’s reputation had grown rather… unfavorable over the years. And yet that has all but reversed itself because of Ivelina alone. Truthfully, she is far too good for our son. He doesn’t deserve her.”
“You’re taking the words right out of my mouth. Breathtakingly, terrifyingly undeserved. Most men change completely after marriage—but just look at Ivelina. She glows. Her face has this lovely softness to it, like she’s been drenched in happiness from the inside out. And that’s not all—I’m grateful enough that he treats my daughter well. But then he goes and treats ‘me’ kindly too, and I simply don’t know what to do with myself. I may not have been blessed in marriage, but I think I’ve been given more than my share of blessings in a son-in-law.”
Their conversation drifted somewhat—one extolling the virtues of the other’s child, the other doing the same in return—but somehow it all wove together perfectly.
The mutual adoration showed no signs of slowing down.
“Goodness, nothing of the sort. I’m the one who’s been blessed in daughters-in-law. You know, when I first came to this house as a young bride, I thought the phrase ‘a daughter-in-law who feels like a daughter’ was pure fantasy. And yet here she is, the real thing. When I look at Ivelina, my heart simply aches with warmth—I’d give her anything and not feel the loss. How does someone her age stay so clear-eyed and gentle and dear? She’s had plenty of life’s grit on her by now. Tell me, how on earth did you raise a daughter like that?”
“Ivelina raised herself, really. Damian and I fell short of her in more ways than I can count. It weighs on me more and more lately. To tell you honestly—when I had my first child and she was a daughter, I was made to suffer terribly for it. My mother-in-law, the servants—they all treated me as though I were worthless for not bearing a son. And my husband simply stood by and watched it happen.”
“The very idea! Not knowing the worth of a daughter—how dare they treat our new daughter that way!”
“Exactly. But I’m guilty too, in my own way. I should have poured more love into her regardless. When I finally had a son and my position in the household shifted, I clung to him, I suppose. I’ve a great deal to be sorry for with Ivelina. Though Damian was a worse father than I was a mother, I’ll say that much.”
“Oh—speaking of which, where has the other father of the bride gotten to? I haven’t seen him for a while.”
Katherine glanced around the surrounding tables. Jane responded, perfectly composed, with a note of deliberate indifference in her voice.
“Last I saw, he was crying by himself in a corner of the garden. Leave him. He has sins to answer for with his daughter, and regret is only fitting. Did he really think he could plant a nail in her heart and go through life without ever feeling it himself? Even now, when I think about how he tried to tie her to that wretched Edwin, my blood runs in reverse.”
“That dreadful, contemptible creature. How ‘dare’ he lay a hand on the duchess? He won’t see the outside world again for the rest of his life, if I have anything to say about it. My son has a certain talent for that sort of arrangement. Let him rot in his cell until there’s nothing left.”
Katherine’s grip on her wine glass tightened as though she intended to shatter it.
“Do calm down, Duchess Mother. Whatever the case—those two found each other, and they’re well-suited.”
At Jane’s gentle words, Katherine let out a slow breath and loosened the tension from her shoulders.
“Ahem. Well—incidentally, my dear…”
Karson, the former Duke, seized the lull to edge himself back into the conversation. He opened his mouth, then closed it again without managing to continue.
Jane blinked at him, waiting.
“Is… is there still no news? About a… a second generation?”
“Oh, this man! I told you not to put any pressure on our daughter-in-law!”
“No, no, that’s not what I—”
“It will happen when it happens. Bringing it up constantly only burdens her.”
“Well—technically I’ve never asked her directly…”
Katherine ground her teeth in agitation.
Though Karson had been thoroughly subdued by his wife’s reprimand, his curiosity proved stronger than his caution.
“Katherine, just hear me out for a moment. You know as well as I do that Kael practically lives in the duchess’s bedroom.”
That, Catherine could not dispute.
Outside of the hours he spent in his study, Kael rarely left Ivelina’s rooms. It was hardly surprising that rumors of the ducal couple’s extraordinary closeness had spread well beyond the manor walls and throughout the duchy itself.
“Given the circumstances, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect some news by now? That’s all I’m saying.”
“…”
“And besides—however kind we try to be, we are still her parents-in-law, at the end of the day. If Ivelina has a worry she’s been carrying around, she may not find it easy to bring it to us. Since her mother happens to be here, I thought it a natural opportunity to raise the subject, gently.”
“…Hmm.”
It was entirely reasonable from beginning to end, and Katherine gave a reluctant nod, the tip of her nose wrinkling in concession. Karson pressed his advantage without stopping for breath.
“And that son of mine—the way Ivelina looks every morning, exhausted to her very bones. It’s quite pitiable, really.”
“Mm.”
This, too, was irrefutable, and Katherine accepted it in silence.
She was well aware that Ivelina was tired every single morning. The sight of her daughter-in-law nodding off at the breakfast table had been a source of genuine worry for some time now. Her son, on the other hand, radiated vitality—skin glowing, expression infuriatingly satisfied. Insufferable creature.
But it wasn’t Katherine’s place to intervene directly in what passed between a husband and wife. She had settled for quietly pressing restorative tonics and nourishing foods into Ivelina’s hands whenever she could.
At this point, Jane, who had been listening in silence, nodded slowly and spoke.
“It has been a bit long, hasn’t it. I haven’t heard anything specific from her either.”
She had never spoken with her daughter directly about the matter.
But there were things she remembered.
‘”Mama, Mama! I found a portrait of Kael as a child—he was so incredibly adorable! His expression is just as serious as it is now, but the little round cheeks—you can’t imagine how sweet!”‘
‘”If we have a child, I want them to look just like him. I’d hold them all day long. And—and I’d kiss them every single day!”‘
The Ivelina of those moments had been flushed with happiness, eyes bright, drawing the shape of a future child in the air with her gaze.
She was not a woman who didn’t want a child of her own—that much was certain.
Jane exhaled slowly.
‘Knowing her, if she’s carrying a worry like this, she won’t breathe a word of it to anyone. She’ll just keep it inside and suffer quietly.’
A shadow passed across Jane’s expression. She turned something over in her mind, then drew a careful breath and began to speak.
“I should mention something. To both of you.”
* * *
