“My goodness. How can you be so behind on the news? Refused? They say she threw those little gates wide open and accepted every last one.”

“She accepted all those carriages?”

The ones that were said to stretch on with no end in sight? The reply came in a voice full of disbelief, and the noblewomen around the table snapped open the fans in their hands and began to wave them.

“She turned out to be shrewder than expected.”

“Didn’t she? She already knows how to keep a man on his toes.”

“What on earth could she have that made His Highness the Grand Duke, cold as stone, fall so completely?”

“We’ll find out next week.”

They smiled and replied with composure, but inwardly they were twisting themselves into knots. Surely she wasn’t actually going to become the grand duchess? Surely it wouldn’t come to that, having to bow their heads and address a woman who had been nothing but a baron’s daughter as Her Highness the Grand Duchess?

They kept their smiles in place, but inside they were burning black and their minds had begun to spin furiously. The grand duke was completely taken with her? If that baron’s daughter accepted the proposal, it was only a matter of time before she took the position of grand duchess. In that case, should they start getting close to her now, while they still could?

She had no mother to guide her through society, and no connections to speak of in a world where connections were everything, so she would be easy to win over. And if one of them became her patron? If the grand duke, so thoroughly smitten, were to learn that she had been the one to take that young lady under her wing, who could say. Her own house might find itself receiving the grand duke’s favor in ways seen and unseen.

“His Highness the Grand Duke wouldn’t be taken with her for nothing. We’ll see for ourselves, won’t we?”

“I suppose so. Surely she isn’t that calculating. She must have simply come to realize his true feelings a little late.”

Each of them hid the thoughts that had surfaced and smiled. But knowing each other as well as they did, every woman in that room was already swiftly sorting through what she needed to do and setting her priorities before anyone else could.

* * *

“The dress isn’t too tight, is it?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“And the shoes? If your heels hurt, I can bring you a different pair.”

“No, these are perfect.”

The maids ran their eyes carefully over every part of Isabella, asking again and again whether anything was uncomfortable, and Isabella answered each one in turn.

“I’ve never seen a dress like this before! The skirt is so full and yet it’s not heavy at all.”

“And these accessories! He sent so many dresses, and then matching accessories to go with every single one.”

“And dozens of pairs of shoes on top of that! With a note saying he hoped not even a little bit of your feet would hurt!”

The Piper family was not the sort of house that had money to spare, but it was not a poor one either. That was something Isabella had come to understand after Henry was murdered and she had taken charge of managing the finances herself.

They could not go about buying up dresses and accessories the way daughters of wealthier noble houses did, but if they were careful with what they had, it was enough to live on comfortably for a lifetime. Not often, but every now and then, when an important ball or banquet came up, she would have a single dress made with care.

“You must be pleased too, my lady. You have so many beautiful and wonderful things now!”

“I’m not sure.”

Isabella smoothed the skirt of the dress she was wearing and considered whether any of this was truly a good thing. Dresses so gorgeous and brilliant she could never have dreamed of owning them. Accessories that sparkled with a beauty whose price she could not even begin to guess. Shoes made of materials she had never touched before. She had never wanted any of it, and had accepted it all against her will. Was she supposed to be glad?

“They are pretty, though.”

Still, they were pretty. Looking at the unfamiliar version of herself reflected in the mirror, Isabella felt oddly dazed. The elaborate dress she had never worn before and the glittering accessories were making her look more radiant than she had ever seen herself.

“Aren’t they? I always wondered why our young lady was hiding how beautiful she is, and now she’s finally shining the way she should!”

The maids beamed and poured out compliments without stopping, and Isabella was smiling awkwardly in the middle of it all when a knock at the door brought her back to herself.

“Come in.”

“My lady. Grand Duke Clerc has arrived.”

“I’ll be right out.”

The servant’s announcement that Declen had arrived set the maids’ hands moving again after they had paused mid-compliment. Isabella let them fuss over her, and only rose slowly from her seat once their hands finally stilled.

Now she had to go with Declen. She had done everything she could to avoid it, but there was no avoiding it any longer. It was time to face it head-on.

“……I can.”

“Pardon? My lady, what did you say?”

“Nothing.”

I can turn everything back. I only have one chance now.

The ring Declen had placed on the fourth finger of her left hand caught the light and gleamed, as though welcoming that resolve.

* * *

“……has already been submitted, and the approval will come through next week. So I’d like to set the wedding date in advance.”

“Isn’t that, isn’t that too soon?”

“Please don’t worry, Baron. All preparations to receive Isabe…… Lady Piper have already been completed.”

Isabella came down the stairs one careful step at a time, and Declen was already deep in conversation with Henry.

“Even so, it’s too soon…….”

“There is truly nothing to worry about. Lady Piper need not do a thing, she need only come herself, Isabella!”

He must have heard the sound of her shoes on the stairs. Mid-sentence in his conversation with Henry, Declen turned his head. Finding herself suddenly face to face with Declen, Isabella froze on the stairs and could not take another step down. She had been concentrating so hard on the unfamiliar shoes that she had not gotten a proper look at him, but his call made her lift her head on instinct, and the sight of him greeting her filled her vision.

“Isabella?”

Should she just undo all of this right now? The thought came out of nowhere, and she gripped the skirt in her hand tightly before letting it go again. This expensive dress, which she could never have bought for herself, needed to be returned in good condition.

“Isabella. Are you feeling unwell?”

She could not bring herself to meet Declen’s gaze as he broke off his conversation with Henry and strode toward her. Why was he dressed like that? Had someone told him in advance what she would be wearing? If so, who could it have been? Suspects surfaced in her mind and vanished just as quickly.

“You have no fever, but if you are feeling unwell, you need not attend the ball tonight.”

“I’m fine.”

Declen drew close and suddenly raised his hand to Isabella’s forehead. She startled and stepped back at the touch, and answered with a sigh mixed in. Declen looked down at his own hand hanging in the air, then lowered it slightly and held it out to Isabella.

“Shall we go, then?”

“Yes.”

“Baron, please join us as well.”

Isabella took Declen’s outstretched hand, and he guided her carefully down the remaining steps before turning to Henry with an invitation to come along. But Henry shook his head firmly and spoke.

“I’m quite all right. I’ll take the Piper family carriage, so please go ahead.”

“It would really be better if you came with us.”

“I truly am fine.”

Declen watched Henry refuse with repeated shakes of his head, then gave a resigned nod and told him to come safely. Then he led Isabella by the hand.

“Step up carefully.”

“Thank you.”

Isabella took Declen’s hand and moved slowly. She passed through the door a servant held open, descended the steps leading to the garden, and a large carriage bearing the grand ducal crest came into view. She hesitated at the sight of its enormous size, and Declen opened the carriage door himself and told her to step up carefully. The words pulled her back to her senses, and she climbed inside and settled into a seat cushioned with plush carpeting. Declen followed her in.

“Please don’t worry, Isabella.”

“I’m not worried. I trust Your Highness’s knights.”

Isabella had added one more condition beyond the four she had already stated to Declen.

“You told them to guard him more carefully than they would guard my own life, so they will do their part.”

“Thank you.”

That condition was Henry’s safety. The image of Henry from the past, a knife buried in his throat as he lay dead in his study, came back to her as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. If only she had married someone back then. If only she had been with someone a little sooner, would Henry not have had to die? And if that had been the case, would Declen not have had to die either? Every kind of regret came crashing in like a wave.

So she asked. For Henry’s safety. She wanted Declen to protect him. She herself would be leaving in a year. With that, Declen’s safety was as good as guaranteed. That left only Henry. But Isabella had no power to protect him.

She had neither the money to hire mercenaries or knights, nor the connections to find capable ones. So the solution Isabella had chosen was to ask Declen. The knights of the grand ducal house could be trusted.

They gave their absolute loyalty to the grand duke and never went against his orders, and when the situation called for it they were cold to the point of cruelty. Isabella trusted these knights, whose skill no others could match. In the past, whenever a martial tournament was held, the knights of the Clerc grand ducal estate would sweep every prize.

It had even gotten to the point where people said the grand duke’s knights were stronger and greater than the knights of the imperial court. So she asked him. To protect Henry. To keep him from dying. Declen had not needed a single moment to think before nodding and accepting the request. It was a markedly different reaction from the other conditions.

But even as she made that request, Isabella had wondered.

How had the knights of the grand ducal estate, said to be stronger than any other, failed to protect Declen? Why had Declen appeared there completely alone? She had wondered it again and again, but there was no one left now who could give her the answer.

“Isabella.”

“Yes.”

“The marriage approval will come through soon.”

“Already?”