Chapter 114

Epilogue

“Good heavens! Your Grace!”

Alex Hudson, head of the Black Guild, grabbed the chin of his mask and tossed it aside in one fluid motion. His true face was revealed—red hair, green eyes.

The Duke of Hardeion was the only person Alex showed his real face to.

“How long has it been?”

“Three years.”

The duke’s answer was brief.

The two had been upperclassman and underclassman at the academy. Alex had idolized him.

Even back then, the duke had smoked cigars with an air of absolute self-possession—a habit he had since given up for Ivelina’s sake—and had maintained the top rank in his year for all three years without interruption. His swordsmanship was the finest in the empire. His charisma cut across all ages and backgrounds: even the academy’s professors went rigid when he walked into a room. The academy’s chancellor had addressed a young Kael with honorifics. It was hardly surprising that Alex worshipped him.

None of this adoration had made the slightest impression on the duke. He had not so much as bothered to remember Alex’s name by the time he graduated.

But Alex, undeterred by five years of entirely one-sided devotion—three of which were spent at the academy—had eventually secured his place as one of the duke’s most trusted hands.

“I’m so moved that you came to me first! For the first time ever!”

Alex’s eyes shone with genuine emotion.

The duke had never sought him out before. Alex had always been the one making the trip—functioning less like a trusted lieutenant and more like a delivery service that came to the duke.

Alex jumped to his feet from the seat of honor.

“Please, sit here, brother!”

The duke settled into the vacated chair as naturally as if he owned it.

Alex watched him—leaning back into the cushions, crossing his legs with effortless elegance—and thought, as he always did: truly, a remarkable upperclassman.

He rubbed his palms together with a grin.

“Heheh! Senior! What brings you here today? Did you miss me?”

“Ivelina came by.”

“Ah! Your fiancée, Your Grace? Yes, she was here two days ago!”

“She didn’t cover her face, I take it.”

The duke smiled faintly and reached into the breast pocket of his jacket. He drew out a cigar and put it between his teeth without lighting it.

Alex already knew the duke had given up smoking for his fiancée. The two of them had been the talk of the social papers lately.

“So. What did she want?”

“She said, ‘I’d like to know how to get dumped by my partner. Ideally in one clean go.’ Of course I deflected—told her I’d never been dumped myself, so I couldn’t help her. So then she goes, ‘All right, forget getting dumped—is there perhaps some other, more moderate way to end things?’ And that’s where I made a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

The duke narrowed his eyes. Alex bristled and launched in.

“You know Natalie broke up with me by just going silent, right? So I had a momentary lapse and suggested a ‘ghost breakup’! But she shook like a leaf and said, ‘If I try to ghost him I’ll probably get caught and die.’ So she wasn’t having that either. I offered to arrange a ‘change of identity’ next.”

“Hmm. A change of identity.”

The duke tapped the armrest of the sofa with one finger.

“She seemed like someone with a soft heart—I figured the moment anything with a criminal edge came up she’d bail. I quoted her an extortionate price on purpose. Sure enough, her lips just opened and closed and nothing came out.”

“As expected.”

“Anyway—who was the maid with her? I felt like I’d seen her somewhere before.”

Alex turned her face over in his memory. Those steady, unreadable eyes. The neat updo.

“At any rate! She seemed sharp as a blade and it put me on edge. And then she started negotiating the price. Ha! I gave her a discount without even meaning to…”

“Did she say why?”

The duke raised his heavy lashes. His eyes carried a cold, searching light. Alex swallowed and answered promptly.

“Apparently you’re terrifyingly obsessive.”

“Ah.”

The duke nodded as though confirming something he already knew. He had no idea how not to be obsessive when it came to his baby rabbit.

“I never would have pegged you as the obsessive type when it comes to women, Your Grace! You really do learn something new every day! Haha!”

This from Alex, who had just turned twenty-three.

The duke nodded without answering. Alex smiled warmly and pressed on.

“Can I ask—what is it about Miss Ivelina that you like so much?”

“What.”

The duke cast his gaze upward, as though tracing the outline of her face in the empty air, and answered:

“She’s cute.”

“Hahaha! Hihihi! Augh, that’s embarrassing!”

Alex dissolved into delighted, vicarious noise. The duke watched him in silence.

“I know the feeling! Three years ago, maybe? That’s exactly how I was with Natalie. ‘Sigh.’ She really was cute. Perceptive too. Cold to others but warm to the person she chose—something vaguely feline about her, a mysterious kind of charm…”

“…”

“Actually, how we met is quite a story. It goes back four years—”

The duke, who had no interest whatsoever in other people’s romantic histories, rose from his seat without ceremony.

“In any case. If Ivelina stops by again, write up a record of the consultation—time, date, what was said—and send it to me directly.”

“Yes, Your Grace! Understood! I wish you a beautiful love, Your Grace! My wholehearted support goes with you!”

* * *

The day of the Crown Prince’s birthday gala.

Kael, brought to the Empress’s palace by the Crown Prince, wore the expression of a man who found existence itself a great inconvenience.

The Empress rounded on her insufferable nephew.

“You! After all these years! At least look less like that!”

“This is simply how my face is.”

“That’s true enough, I suppose. But still! You came all the way to the imperial palace and you were going to leave without even seeing your aunt?”

“Yes.”

“Honestly, what a coldhearted creature you are. I practically raised you on my back!”

“That was my nursemaid.”

Aunt and nephew caught up warmly after years apart.

Once the pleasantries were over, the Empress folded her hands and moved without preamble to the real subject.

“Kael. How is Ivelina? You two are still seeing each other, yes?”

“How does Your Imperial Majesty know Ivelina?”

It was the first question the duke had asked in the entire conversation.

“Oh? Well—I saw the engagement announcement…”

But she spoke of Ivelina with a familiarity that went well beyond having read a newspaper.

The duke lowered his voice.

“Have you been conducting an investigation into my affairs.”

“Ugh! An ‘investigation’! Absolutely not! The truth is—I noticed that child at the gala. Such a kind and good-natured girl! Look, do you see that handkerchief over there?”

The Empress pointed to a framed piece hanging on the wall.

Inside the frame was a soft yellow handkerchief—the same one Ivelina had once tied around Popo’s neck.

“That child put this around Popo’s neck. Said he looked cold. Wasn’t that sweet of her? ‘Ahem.’ I confess I did follow you both. I saw you go into the hotel together.”

The duke raised one eyebrow.

The Empress waved her hands with a laugh.

“Don’t worry. Only Hermes and I saw, and we have said absolutely nothing.”

At that, the Empress noticed her son standing just to the side of the duke—Crown Prince Adrian, eyes very wide, processing what appeared to be a great deal of surprising and fascinating information all at once.

She clicked her tongue and issued a firm warning.

“You as well. Not a word. In any case—our Popo apparently wanted to see Ivelina again after that, and visited Florence manor quite a few times. Hermes accompanied him once. That rascal made an uncharacteristic blunder and they nearly got caught…”

Popo, seated in the Empress’s lap, bounced with evident delight. She stroked him gently.

“He still visits secretly to this day. If you ever find small paw prints in your manor, you’ll know it’s him.”

The Empress smiled.

The duke, thinking of Ivelina, laughed quietly.

“Certainly.”

“I prayed so hard for things to work out between you two, and now look. It really is a relief.”

* * *

Every person in the world had played some part in bringing Ivelina and the duke together.

The only one who didn’t know was Ivelina herself.

‘End of Bonus Arc: That Man’s Story’

* * *