Chapter 3
Lira, Lady Raiel’s exclusive maid, was so overcome with tears that she could barely manage her duties.
“Lira, I’m all right,” Raiel said softly, gazing at her maid’s tear-stained face.
“But…”
Lira’s voice broke with hiccupped sobs. He was the Grand Duke, the man infamous for cutting down anyone who so much as displeased him. She could not suppress her terror that her lady would go to the Grand Ducal House as a bride only to return as a cold corpse.
Seeing her maid so distraught, Raiel gave a troubled smile. The Grand Duke might arrive at any moment, and her preparations should have been finished swiftly, but at this rate, she would not be ready in time. Lira needed to calm down before they could make any progress yet Raiel could hardly sit idly and wait.
“Lira,” she called gently.
She understood why Lira worried so much. The countless rumors surrounding the Grand Duke would unsettle anyone.
“My lady…”
At Raiel’s tender voice, Lira’s tears welled even further.
“There’s no need to worry so,” Raiel reassured.
“But how can I not!”
Lira’s mind was filled with grim images of what awaited Raiel after marriage in the Grand Ducal House.
“I’ve not even seen his face yet.”
“Which is why, even now, you should run away–”
The words spilled out from Lira’s concern, though she knew herself it was already too late. Escape was impossible now, and worse, such an act would bring calamity upon others. Raiel’s nature would never allow her to flee if it meant others might suffer for her choice.
“Rumors are only rumors.”
“And if they’re true?” Lira’s swollen eyes searched her mistress’s face.
“Perhaps I cannot wholly dismiss them, but I don’t believe he is as cruel or wicked as they claim.”
“How can you know that?” Lira protested. They had never even laid eyes on the man.
“Because in every letter he sent me, I could sense only warmth and sincerity.”
Yet even at Raiel’s gentle assurance, Lira’s face showed disbelief. If one could truly judge character through words on a page, betrayal and treachery would not exist.
Watching her maid’s doubt, Raiel hesitated. With her gift, she could easily soothe Lira’s mind, bend her emotions until fear dissolved into calm. Then her preparations would proceed without delay. But she loathed using her powers on those she cherished. To tamper with someone’s heart was no different from coercion.
She had used it once on her father, only because time had been too short to persuade him otherwise but she wished to avoid such things whenever possible.
“Do you remember the day I brought you here?” Raiel asked quietly.
“…Yes.”
How could she forget?
For Lira, it had been the day of her life’s greatest fortune. At death’s door on the backstreets, she had been saved, taken in by Raiel’s hand, and raised to serve now as her lady’s personal maid.
“Many opposed me when I declared I would make a maid of a child I had just found. But I trusted you and saw how splendidly you have become my right hand.”
She had been clumsy at first, fumbling through her duties, but now Lira carried herself as a capable, devoted maid.
Lira had no words in reply.
“And so I know,” Raiel continued, “that just as I did not regret that choice, neither will I regret this one.”
It was not blind faith. She could see into hearts, perceive the essence of one’s feelings and thoughts.
“But this is different…” Lira whispered. Her lady might take in a maid and dismiss her if displeased, but marriage to a Grand Duke was irreversible. A single misstep would bind her fate for life.
“You think I don’t understand your worry? I do. But can you not trust me, and follow my decision?”
Her voice was gentle yet firm.
Lira looked up at her mistress, whose eyes shone bright and clear as always. Her eyes were so luminous one could be lost in them.
She swallowed her anxiety. For all her fragile appearance, Raiel was strong, unyielding against any trial, always finding a way to achieve her goals and overcome even the gravest hardships. If she spoke so with conviction, there must be a reason.
After several deep breaths, Lira steadied herself and set her hands back to work.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
At the edge of Viscount Zaberne’s territory, strangers appeared. Their attire was fine, refined, almost dazzling, and was utterly out of place in the small, humble domain.
They were Carpel Yvern, his aide Yuren, and his knight Lloyd.
“At last,” Carpel murmured.
This was the land where she lived. Just standing on its soil, his chest swelled with emotion. Soon, after twelve long years, he would see her again.
His hand twitched as though she were already before his eyes. He longed to tell her that he had yearned for her endlessly, that he had endured the harsh years for this meeting, that the life she had once saved now stood here because of her.
But unlike Carpel’s face brimming with joy, Yuren beside him looked on the verge of collapse. No wonder he had been carried on Carpel’s shoulder like luggage for an entire day’s journey.
It had been the only way to reach the viscount’s land within a day. Carpel, blessed by one of the Empire’s rare guardian spirits, possessed strength and endurance far beyond ordinary men.
Yuren, mere mortal, could never have kept pace. Carpel had carried him half out of impatience, half out of mercy. For Yuren, it was an ordeal he hoped never to repeat.
“This… really is small,” Yuren muttered under his breath.
He had heard in his reports that Viscount Zaberne ruled over a modest estate, but seeing it now, it felt scarcely more than a village. Compared to the Grand Ducal manor, this entire land seemed smaller than the ducal residence alone.
“What does size matter?” Carpel’s voice was cold, stung by the remark. The estate’s modesty meant nothing. What mattered was that Raiel lived here.
“… So I cannot even speak my thoughts now,” Yuren grumbled.
“Better to hold your tongue than waste it on nonsense.”
Silenced, Yuren complied. Not that he had the strength left to argue; the whirlwind journey had left his stomach lurching with every step.
Carpel, satisfied, strode on until he noticed Yuren rooted in place behind him, pale and unmoving.
“You’re not asking me to leash you like a dog, are you? What are you doing back there?”
The quiet question dripped with menace. His impatience was fraying; after all, he was so close to finally meeting her.
“Can we not rest, even for a moment?” Yuren pleaded. In his state, he would vomit with every step.
“If you wish to rest forever, I can oblige you,” Carpel retorted, exasperation flashing in his eyes.
“I would prefer to rest in this world, not the next,” Yuren said firmly. He doubted Carpel would kill him but exhaustion itself might.
“Tch.” Carpel clicked his tongue. Judging by Yuren’s state, walking was impossible. A part of him itched to simply abandon the man, but he refrained. He would need Yuren as mediator in the conversation to come.
With a glance, he signaled Lloyd.
The knight, stone-faced as always, strode forward.
“W-what are you doing?” Yuren stammered, stepping back in alarm.
Moments later, he found himself slung unceremoniously over Lloyd’s shoulder instead.
Thus the three arrived at the Viscount’s manor.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Viscount Zaberne could not calm his pounding heart. How should he greet the Grand Duke? What words should he speak? And what manner of man would the Grand Duke prove to be?
Fear threatened to overwhelm him, yet he could not turn away. As a father, as lord of his house, he had to stand dignified. All he could hope was that the Grand Duke was not as the rumors painted him.
Then a maid rushed in to announce the visitor’s arrival.
The viscount left his chambers at once. Any other guest might have been greeted by retainers alone, but for the Grand Duke, nothing less than personal welcome would suffice. Even the slightest misstep might cost dearly.
Led to the entrance, he saw him looming even from afar, flanked by two men. Even without seeing his face clearly, the Grand Duke’s oppressive presence was unmistakable.
