Lily’s face lit up at Anais’s decision. Her mistress had clearly changed since coming to Solean.

When Anais first said she wanted to go to Solean and meet other men, Lily opposed it. She even gently suggested that it might be better to meet someone for marriage according to Viscount Bellini’s wishes.

It was true that he and Anais grew distant, but he was not the kind of man to marry off his only daughter to just anyone. Lily believed he would introduce her to a fine gentleman from a family of suitable standing. She wanted Anais to stop getting hurt.

But the day they received the wedding invitation, Lily saw Anais sink to the bedroom floor and cry out loud, and the fear crashed over her.

Louis was already a commoner, and he chose to take another woman’s surname on top of that. He was someone who only ever hurt her mistress. What if she could never forget his name? That fear gripped her. So she decided to support whatever her mistress wanted.

She thought it better to leave the capital, to let Anais shed everything that bound her in this free city and enjoy herself. And if she happened to meet someone good along the way, all the better.

Grand Duke Visconti was, at least in Lily’s eyes, far better than Louis. Louis loved Anais. He could not fool Lily, who served Anais closer than anyone.

He could not take his eyes off Anais, always finding ways to draw her attention, yet the moment Anais looked back at him, he turned away. If he disliked her so much, if she made him uncomfortable, he could have stayed somewhere she would never see him. Instead, he always kept himself within her line of sight.

Every conversation with Anais left a wound, yet he could not stop staring at her face. Lily saw love in that face, the one that seemed to settle with relief each time Anais was hurt.

Louis continued to hover around Anais after that. Like a man who needed her never to forget him. When Anais left for the capital to avoid marriage, Louis followed her there. Even while claiming to hate her, he could not bring himself to leave her side.

Then, around the time Viscount Bellini began sending suitor profiles to the capital estate, Louis introduced Emily. Anais let Emily stay at the capital estate.

After that, Anais returned every document Viscount Bellini sent without opening a single one. Louis was someone who manipulated her mistress however he pleased, right up until the end.

Anais was practically his benefactor. She was the one who opened a path for him when his family fell and he lost his title. He should have spent the rest of his life grateful for that alone, yet he tormented her mistress out of his own inferiority.

He confirmed his love by watching her get hurt. How broken must a relationship be, when love can only be confirmed through pain?

What a shameless man. It felt like just yesterday that Lily fretted endlessly, terrified her mistress might never forget someone so wicked and twisted. And now her mistress was sending his letter back without even breaking the seal!

“Yes, Miss! I will. I’ll send it right back!”

Lily’s delighted reply drew a small smile from Anais. Whatever Louis wrote in that letter, it no longer had anything to do with her. That was all it was now. She pulled her gaze from Louis’s envelope and turned it to the invitations, turning them over in her hands. Then she picked one up.

“I’ll go with this one for the party. Killian has probably already guessed.”

The party at the Orsini family’s summer villa was one Killian personally recommended, calling it the next best thing after his own soiree, so this felt like the right choice.

“Yes, but just to be safe, shall I send someone to the Visconti villa?”

“Yes, please do that.”

The letter sent back to Louis sank deep into her heart. Anais wished she could bury it even deeper, somewhere it could no longer be seen.

* * *

The day of the party at the Orsini villa arrived. Killian was with her that day as well. He suggested they dine together at his villa, finish getting ready there, and go to the Orsini villa together, but Anais declined.

It was her first party since Grand Duke Visconti’s soiree, and she wanted to prepare properly. She was attending as Killian’s partner, after all.

“Miss, you look absolutely stunning!”

“Do I?”

“Yes, truly, so, so beautiful!”

Anais knew it was deliberate exaggeration, but Lily was so endearing that she let out a small laugh.

Torchlight cast a red glow over the great columns of the Orsini villa. The lake, no longer scorched by the afternoon sun, shimmered in deep hues, and the sound of water lapping beneath the terrace reached her ears in a pleasant wash.

“Ana.”

She turned toward the soft call. With a smile already on her lips, Anais watched Killian approach.

Killian gave a low whistle. He drew close, wrapped an arm around her waist, and lowered his lips to her.

The dress she chose for the evening was a silk gown in the blush of a ripe peach’s softest flesh. Sheer chiffon panels rippled around her ankles like the gentle surface of the lake.

The neckline cut boldly low, tracing the line of her chest, and the lace densely embroidered in silver thread made Anais’s skin, so pale it was nearly translucent, all the more striking. Each time the candlelight swayed, the pearls and gems set along the neckline caught the light in a soft shimmer, rising and falling with her breath.

Rather than pinning her hair up, Anais curled it with a heated iron and let it fall naturally over her shoulders. Between the strands of hair gathered into an elegant half-updo, tiny gems were scattered like pinned stars.

With every step she took, the floral scent carried on the lake breeze drifted outward in all directions. A few strands of hair, loosened by the wind, brushed against her cheek and the slender curve of her neck. Killian’s arm around her waist tightened.

“What am I going to do? My lover is so beautiful I’m not sure I can make it to the party.”

Killian’s words drew a bright laugh from Anais. It seemed to catch, because Killian laughed low in return.

“Is it really that bad?”

“Yes. It always has been.”

She liked the firm hand and the steady hold that kept her grounded. Anais rested her hand on Killian’s arm and walked with him toward the Orsini villa.

The moment they entered together, every eye in the room turned to them. Anais long anticipated the scrutinizing looks, knowing that a noblewoman from the capital had claimed Killian’s entire summer.

Killian was someone very accustomed to being watched. Standing at his side, Anais worked hard to hold onto her natural and graceful composure.

Killian, who stayed by her side throughout, naturally joined a cluster of men. The ones who gathered around Anais once she was left alone were the noblewomen of Solean.

“Hello, Miss Bellini. Lovely to meet you, I’ve been so curious about you.”

“Hello, lovely to meet you.”

Among them was the lady who told her Killian’s identity on the night of Grand Duke Visconti’s soiree.

“It turned out just as I expected.”

“What did?”

“I had a feeling things would go this way between you and Grand Duke Visconti.”

Some of the ladies, like the one in front of her, looked at Anais with warmth, but in truth most of them regarded her with open hostility. It was probably because she occupied Killian’s side for so long.

“But Miss Bellini isn’t the first, is she? There was Miss Marcello.”

It was a name she never heard before. Anais never once asked Killian about his past lovers. And Killian was the same. They silently agreed never to ask each other anything of the sort.

“Miss Marcello was with him for just over two months as well, wasn’t she? I actually thought the two of them would marry.”

She knew it was a provocation. But it struck her as almost funny, and a faint smile crossed Anais’s lips. She did not go into this not knowing what kind of man Killian was. So it did not matter. At least the one standing at his side right now was Anais.

“Is that so? It doesn’t concern me in the least.”

Anais answered calmly, not a crack in her expression. She did not mince words. She truly agreed to share one season without conditions. The ache in her chest was a secret she chose to keep to herself.

“Even knowing that one more month would make you the longest he’s ever been with someone? Maybe it’s still possible.”

She knew the woman said it to take her side. Anais smiled gently and replied.

“What does any of that matter? What counts is being together in the present.”

The composed answer visibly deflated the expression of the lady who tried to provoke her. But she did not look ready to back down.

“That’s true. After all, the one he marries will be a noble lady of high standing, arranged by His Majesty the King.”