Several days passed by in the blink of an eye. Without Astrid, the atmosphere in my room had become much calmer; Adela seemed happy to have regained our privacy.
At the academy, the commotion caused by the Pradiles students had died down.
Seraphine, after learning that she was the one who had actually defeated them—something she hadn't believed until Klaus himself confirmed it—now carried a renewed confidence. It was gratifying to see her like this, especially considering how downcast she had been after the exams.
On the other hand, the Empress called me every single day.
Although I always made excuses, her persistence was becoming annoying. Still, she would have to wait; I wanted to push her to the limit of her patience. Maybe I was playing with fire—I had seen women break for far less—and perhaps I had gone too far by using certain techniques I had learned throughout my life on her.
I sighed, trying to release the tension that kept building inside me.
What bothered me most was that, in just over a few weeks, almost everyone I knew would be leaving for that so-called Legacy. The entrance is located in neutral territory, which has been unsuccessfully contested by Midvern and Lucratis.
Today I was going to see Rosalind; if I waited any longer, she would surely come looking for me. Just thinking about her made me inevitably remember my other sister, Margery. If she knew about the kind of relationship I now had with Rosalind…
"Master, a letter arrived from the county," Adela said.
I looked at her, puzzled. "From the county? Who is it from?"
She examined the envelope, hesitated for a moment, and then answered, "It appears to be from your stepmother."
I frowned deeply.
What could that woman possibly want? I rubbed my forehead, tired.
I signaled Adela to read it for me. She opened the letter, but quickly furrowed her brow.
"It's strange, Master… very strange. It seems she's inviting you to join her for a tea party with her friends?"
"Huh? Since when does she come up with things like that? And where is this tea party supposed to be? Does she expect me to travel all the way to the County of Varkas in how much time?"
"It looks like it will be held in the capital, Master… and the Duchess of Valois will be present."
If that was the case, it was possible my stepmother wanted to get on someone's good side by asking me this, but it still felt odd.
"Tell her I'll accompany her, Adela. Remind me when the time comes."
Adela looked up, surprised. "You're really going?"
"Yes… it might be fun," I said with a crooked smile. "Besides, being in a place full of older women, possibly as beautiful as Eleanor, doesn't sound bad at all."
She shot me a glare, while I responded with a lazy smile and dismissed the matter with a casual wave.
…
I entered Rosalind's office and saw her working, completely focused on her papers.
I still didn't understand how she could keep handling these matters after everything they had done to her.
I kept my steps silent so she wouldn't notice my presence. I positioned myself behind her, and when I was ready, I grabbed her by the waist and lifted her, completely shattering her concentration and drawing a surprised moan from her.
She looked down, and the moment she saw me, she exclaimed:
"Cassian! Put me down, I was in the middle of something important!"
"More important than me?" I smiled, amused.
Rosalind gave me a pleading look, asking me to stop joking. Seeing that, I lowered her and asked:
"What has you so occupied?"
She lowered her gaze, worried.
"It's just that… the numbers don't add up. They wronged me when they sent me to prison, but there's no doubt that money is constantly disappearing from the reserves. Even though they supposedly caught the responsible ministers, something about all this smells off to me."
I narrowed my eyes at her words. I had a suspect in mind, but I wasn't going to tell her; there was no point in doing so for now.
"Come on, forget about that. Come take a walk with me, like always," I said, pulling her along toward the exit.
She stopped me quickly, but not to refuse. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and as she looked down at her office clothes—which she usually didn't mind wearing in front of me—she murmured:
"Wait… I'm going to change and I'll be right back."
I smiled as I watched her leave. Sometimes I forgot how much happiness there was in these little things; after so many years, I still couldn't get tired of them.
When she returned, she looked radiant. I took her hand and stared at her, telling her with my eyes just how beautiful she was.
"Cassian, is it okay for us to hold hands?" she asked hesitantly, noticing that people on the street were watching us.
I suppose seeing two siblings holding hands might look a bit strange, though they don't know who we really are anyway.
We spent the day wandering through shops and had something warm to drink in the afternoon. And although I was tempted more than once to do more, I controlled my impulses.
Maybe Adela was right to scold me all the time.
Still, it was a peaceful day. I said goodbye to her that night, and even though I knew she wanted me to stay, something about our entire interaction that day made me leave.
It wasn't that I had doubts about the kind of relationship I wanted with her; after all, I hadn't hesitated that day to make her mine. I just didn't know how all of this would end up affecting everything… Margery kept appearing in my mind.
…
Once I returned to the Academy, someone was waiting for me.
"Shouldn't you be busy?" I asked in a lazy voice.
She flashed that shameless smile she was known for—the smile of someone who has no doubts about what she wants in life.
"And you're not wrong. I keep getting gifts, invitations, and even marriage proposals. Can you believe it? Though I decided long ago not to marry until the right person came along… although, seeing how my sister built her family, sometimes I doubted my decision."
Her mood dipped slightly at the mention of Seraphine's real grandmother; she had been missing for a long time.
"How was it?" Her eyes sparkled as she asked.
"How was what?"
She gave me a bored look at my response.
"With Selyne. What was it like meeting her? I know she's a bit rigid, but I'm sure you liked her."
I raised an eyebrow at her words.
"Why do you always try to set me up with more women? First Elena, and now you want to sell me your friend?"
"Well, why not?" she replied naturally. "Ever since Selyne had a daughter with that irresponsible man, I thought I should share the good things with her. We've always done everything together."
I didn't answer right away.
I sat down on the bed where she was lying and began taking off my shoes; she followed every movement with her eyes. Once I finished, I turned my gaze back to her and asked with a sigh:
"Why did you really come?"
She sat up, studying me, trying to understand me. But what she didn't know was that even I couldn't understand myself; my emotions were always either chaos or emptiness—never clear.
"It's about Seraphine…" she murmured.