“Would you honor me with a dance?”

“……”

Isabella looked at the large hand that had extended toward her. Should she take it? Should she not? It was a connection with a set expiration date, so perhaps she should refuse. She deliberated for a long while, but she could not ignore the eyes around her. His rank, towering above all but the imperial family, and his title as captain of the Holy Knights. Refusing him here would invite obvious gossip, so Isabella squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.

She looked at the large hand in its pristine white glove, and in the end, she took it. The moment she clasped that hand, warm with heat, a slow melody began, and she moved her body through the steps she knew. His body began to move in turn, fl*id and unhurried.

“Your Grace.”

“It will take time before you can bring yourself to say the name Declen.”

“That name will never pass my lips.”

It was a cold exchange, entirely at odds with the sweet melody. But her expression, at least, was not cold. Others could not hear this conversation, but anyone could see her face, so she saw no reason to harden it. She kept the same smile she had worn since entering the banquet hall.

“How can you be so certain?”

“……”

“You might come to…”

“……”

“…love me. Is that not possible?”

Loving him. She already loved him, so how could she love him any more than this? She loved him enough to throw herself off a cliff for him, and even now she could not let go of that feeling, which was precisely why she was thinking of leaving him. How much more was she supposed to love him?

“Don’t expect it.”

The music ended, and she released his hand lightly and turned away. The dress he had commissioned and her long, gleaming hair spread out beautifully, rippling like sunlight on water. Many in the room let out soft sounds of wonder at the sight of her, as though she were not of this world, but Isabella paid it no mind at all. She had only one wish.

She only wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.

“Then what would I have to do, if I still wished to hope?”

The wide-spread dress settled back into place, and Declen took her hand again. It was part of the dance, so she took his hand without hesitation and leaned quietly against him. That too was part of the dance. Truly, mercifully so.

“……”

Was she dreaming? She could almost hear the sound of a heart pounding hard. Whose heart was it? Beating that fast, it might be mine. She told herself firmly that the loudly beating heart was her own and continued to dance.

“If you still wish to hope.”

“……”

“Then wait.”

Wait and keep waiting, and your true love will appear, and that foolish feeling you hold for me will melt away like snow. When that happens, you may want to erase the very existence of Isabella Piper. So wait just a little longer. Your woman will come and make you happy, and I will be able to save you.

* * *

Henry was overwhelmed at his first banquet in a long while. On top of that, Isabella’s engagement-less, seemingly overnight marriage to Grand Duke Clerc had drawn even those he barely knew, all swarming over to offer their congratulations, leaving him even more at a loss.

She had been a child who stubbornly refused the marriage no matter what. She had said she would be fine marrying someone other than Grand Duke Clerc, that she absolutely would not have him under any circumstances. And then one day, out of nowhere, she declared she would marry the grand duke.

Was he threatening her? Had he told her he would ruin the family if she refused? Or had he learned that Isabella was the subject of the prophecy and forced the marriage by presenting conditions she could not turn down? Henry had asked again and again, but his daughter had shaken her head at every question.

She had only said that after speaking at length with the grand duke, she had come to understand him better and her misgivings had cleared.

The Piper barony and the grand ducal house. Both were noble, but the difference in rank was as vast as heaven and earth, or perhaps even greater, and Henry had tried to stop the marriage. With Isabella firmly refusing on her own, stopping it had not been difficult. But once her heart turned, things moved with startling speed.

The marriage contract, which he had expected to take a long time, was approved swiftly, and even before the approval had come through, Grand Duke Clerc was already making preparations for the wedding. He said he had been preparing for a long time and that nearly everything was in order, and the faint smile on the grand duke’s face as he said so made him look, frankly, a little unhinged.

Where on earth had he seen Isabella? She was not particularly frail, but she did not much enjoy going out. She preferred to stay home quietly, embroidering or reading, so she did not go out often. Where could they possibly have met?

“Congratulations, Baron Piper. Smooth sailing ahead for you, I’d say.”

“Viscount Setnak.”

He turned at the sudden sneering tone and found Viscount Setnak, who had always been quick to look down on and belittle the Piper barony. The Setnak viscountcy was hardly a distinguished house itself, but a difference in rank was a difference in rank, and so Henry had always had to endure it.

“The captain of the Clerc Holy Knights, no less. Where did you reel in a catch like that?”

“……”

“You raised your daughter well, I’ll give you that. Seducing Declen Clerc himself, of all people, and making herself useful to the family.”

“Please don’t say such things. Isabella is not that kind of child.”

“What else could explain it? You said yourself your daughter was too sickly to set foot outside the house, and now suddenly she’s with the grand duke? If she didn’t set out to seduce him, how does that make any sense?”

“……”

“With no mother around, you might not have known. So don’t take it too hard. With no mother to confide in, she may not have been able to bring herself to tell her distant father.”

Even as Viscount Setnak’s taunts washed over him, Henry had no choice but to clench his teeth and bear it. There were aspects of Isabella’s relationship with the grand duke that even Henry could not fully understand. He was pressing his lips together and enduring the humiliation when a low, amused voice reached him.

“Baron, there you are.”

“Your Grace.”

“Your Grace, you say. That wounds me. We are about to become family, are we not? Please, be at ease with me.”

“Even so, how could I possibly address Your Grace so…”

“If you remain so distant, I will only feel more slighted.”

People spotted Grand Duke Clerc approaching Henry with a smile filling his face and quickly parted down the middle, stepping back hastily as though afraid of being in his way. Henry watched them with faint bewilderment, then collected himself and bowed to the grand duke in greeting. The grand duke said he felt slighted by that and stepped in close to Henry, still smiling.

“Slighted, you say. That is far too kind a word for what I…”

“Good evening, Grand Duke Clerc.”

Just as Henry was about to ask him to take back such generous words, the unwelcome voice of Viscount Setnak cut in.

“……”

“I am Viscount Bennet Setnak, Baron Piper’s closest and dearest friend. Haha. I have only ever seen you from afar, and to be able to see you up close like this is a great hono…”

“Viscount Setnak.”

The grand duke’s smile vanished at Viscount Setnak’s sudden intrusion. Whether to call the man bold or simply shameless for pressing on even after noticing that, Henry could not decide. He was feeling the bitterness of his own position, unable to say a single word even while being treated this way, when the grand duke opened his mouth.

“Yes? Yes, Your Grace.”

“Were you not in the middle of a conversation with Baron Piper?”

Those deep red eyes, as though holding fire within them, gleamed with a cold light.

“I apologize.”

Unable to withstand the piercing gaze bearing down on him, Viscount Setnak bent at the waist and repeated his apologies several times over, then vanished just as pathetically as he had appeared.

“Your Grace.”

“Are you all right? You need not have been subjected to that.”

“Ha ha. I am fine. Thank you for your concern.”

He tried to smile as though it were nothing, but perhaps the exhaustion had come crashing in all at once. The muscles at the corners of his mouth would not quite cooperate.

“If you are tired, you are welcome to leave early.”

“Ah, I was hoping to go home with Isabella…”

“Lady Piper will not be returning to the Piper barony tonight.”

“Pardon?”

What did that mean? He had heard nothing of the sort from Isabella today. She was a child who always told him where she was going. And now she was not coming home tonight?

“It seems the young lady has not yet told you.”

“Told me what?”

“The young lady will be…”

The grand duke’s face shifted subtly as he spoke those words. The smile that had been full of courteous reserve softened, its lines blurring, a faint warmth rising into it.

“Staying at the grand ducal estate tonight.”

“What do you mean by…”

“Isabella will not be returning to the Piper barony tonight.”

Henry went rigid at the grand duke’s words, abrupt and brooking no argument. She could not return?

“Yes. There is a matter she and I must conclude together tonight.”

“Isabella said nothing…”

He had been about to say she had said nothing of the sort, but he stopped himself, not wanting to give those nearby anything to seize on. Right. Isabella must have agreed to this, or he would not be saying it. The captain of the Holy Knights had a reputation for being harsh and ruthless, but everything Henry had seen of how he treated Isabella suggested otherwise.

And if Isabella had made up her own mind to be with him, there was surely good reason for it.

“Baron?”

“Yes. Then I entrust Isabella to your care tonight. Where is she now? I would like to see her face briefly before I go.”

“At the moment…”

The warm smile the grand duke had been wearing began to stiffen, little by little.

* * *

“A tea party?”

“Yes. A tea party.”

“You’re not even the grand duchess yet. What sort of tea party?”

After dancing with Declen, Isabella had been swept along by the crowd pressing in from all sides, and it was only when Selectra caught her by the hand and pulled her away that she finally managed to slip into a sitting room. She was sipping a warm cup of tea a servant had brought, catching her breath, when Selectra spoke up as though something had just occurred to her.

“You’re the grand duchess-to-be, aren’t you? Everyone here has already accepted that you will become the grand duchess, so now you need to drive the point home!”