Chapter 101
The situation felt surreal. Adrina was well aware of Dimitri’s distaste for her, and the feeling was entirely mutual.
“So, you were hiding here.”
Dimitri had appeared out of nowhere, his eyes fixed on Lev with a sharp, suspicious intensity.
“I came looking for you because there was a matter I needed to discuss, but you were nowhere to be found.”
He was behaving as though he were standing guard over her. It was a subtle shift, hard to pin down, but his coldness toward Lev made his intentions clear.
“I felt uneasy about your absence.”
“……”
The concept of worry seemed fundamentally at odds with a man like Dimitri.
He scanned Adi from top to bottom before turning his full attention back to Lev. “Sir.”
“Yes?”
“Sir Adrina Dean is a stranger to the customs of Ionad. Regardless of your status as comrades, it is highly improper for an unmarried man and woman to wander into isolated corners alone.”
Isolated? They were in a vast, open public area, but Lev found himself unable to argue against that freezing, judgmental stare. He could only open and close his mouth in silence.
“We have business to attend to. We shall be going.”
Dimitri moved to her side, positioning himself as her escort. Adi could only blink at him. He waited for her to move, but she remained rooted to the spot, her expression questioning his sudden presence. A scowl touched Dimitri’s lips.
He seemed frustrated by her lack of intuition.
“Lead the way, Sir,” he urged.
“I appreciate it.”
Adi finally started walking. Following behind, Dimitri cast a lingering look over his shoulder. The sight of a Grimaldi Knight’s colors was something he hadn’t encountered in years.
“As hideous as ever,” he breathed.
The remark was a ghost of a sound, far too quiet for anyone else to catch.
*
The journey from the Rose Garden back toward the Duke’s quarters was longer than Adi anticipated. As they moved away, the heavy, suffocating perfume of the blooms gave way to the fresh scent of greenery. It was a welcome relief.
That garden was a repository for dark memories. She couldn’t fathom why anyone found roses appealing. Lost in these idle reflections, she stopped when she heard her name. “Adrina.”
She turned to face him.
“Did something happen back there?”
She wondered if his concern was genuine. It didn’t fit his character. When she didn’t answer immediately, his face hardened, demanding a reply.
“No, I’m quite alright.”
“You shouldn’t just follow anyone who calls for you.”
His voice carried a note of discipline. She struggled to read him—was this protective instinct or merely a critique of her judgment?
“Do you fail to see the peril in such actions? This is the heart of the royal court.”
“I am sorry.”
“Conduct yourself with the proper grace.”
“Was my behavior just now lacking in grace?”
Dimitri went silent. He seemed to weigh his response with great care. “…Not specifically in this instance.”
He sighed, his tone softening slightly. “I spoke out of turn. For that, I apologize. However, the fact remains that you placed yourself in a vulnerable position.”
“The traditions of the court are alien to me. I have never been instructed in these matters.”
Dimitri’s features twisted in a look of profound conflict. He seemed to be debating how to handle her. Adi watched him, expecting him to simply tell her to stop being a burden and return to Woodpecker. Instead, he spoke with uncharacteristic caution. “If it would be acceptable to you…”
“Would you like me to instruct you in courtly manners?”
The offer caught her completely off guard.
“You? You want to teach me?”
She couldn’t reconcile this helpfulness with his previous attitude.
“I was under the impression that you couldn’t stand me.”
“You are a representative of the Woodpecker house now.”
She realized then that his pride wouldn’t allow anyone associated with his Duke to look foolish in public.
“Is that the only reason?”
Dimitri looked down at her. He possessed a natural, inherent arrogance that usually made him seem condescending, yet it felt like a part of his very soul.
“Etiquette is a shield. You need it to deflect insults and navigate traps. It is essential for the preservation of your honor.”
Honor was a foreign word to her. When she gave a small nod of agreement, Dimitri spoke again.
“…Did your own family provide you with no education at all?”
“I was never given such lessons,” Adi admitted.
“I understood that such things were typically the mother’s responsibility. A private family duty.”
But her own mother had never fulfilled that role.
“My Mother…”
The image of that stunning woman flickered in Adi’s mind. She remembered her beauty as a vague concept, but the details of her face had faded. Her last clear memory was the day they laid Adrian to rest.
She tried to recall her mother’s expression then, but all she saw was the mourning black of her dress and veil. Had someone thrown a stone? The memory was fractured, a surreal blur of grief. Adi searched deeper, trying to find the Countess as she used to be.
She remembered…
“She spent her life confined to her chambers. She was… functional, I suppose, while my brother was still well.”
Adi pictured the green walls—the color of crushed grass, reminiscent of the Grimaldi wilds. It was a beautiful room, yet it always felt hollow. Her mother would sit on a sofa decorated with golden roses, wrapped in a heavy gown, pulling her knees to her chest and staring. Sometimes Adi thought her mother was looking at her; other times, she was sure the gaze was fixed on Adrian.
There were moments of fleeting affection where she treated them like treasures, only to be followed by a sudden, jarring rejection. Adi couldn’t remember which of the children had been pushed away in those fits of horror.
There were screams, too—the sounds of a woman drowning in hopelessness—and the sound of things breaking. Her father was a ghost, living in Ionad and leaving the estate to her. She hadn’t seemed to want the responsibility.
The screaming eventually stopped, replaced by the scent of an Eastern water pipe brought in by the staff. The room became a permanent fog of bitter smoke. Within that haze, she would offer a distant smile. Adi suspected that smile was meant for Adrian.
“She just stayed there, lost in her smoke.”
Or had it been for me?
“She spent her time writing letters to people she never actually saw. She would ask after them, but no one was ever invited to the house.”
The older servants spoke of a time when the Grimaldi estate was a place of light and laughter, a cool summer retreat for the nobility of Dalkatir. Adi found those stories impossible to believe. To her, Grimaldi was a place of shadows, as bleak as its reputation.
The only things that ever moved were the plumes of smoke. Adrian used to tremble whenever he saw smoke rising from the woods, convinced they were executing a witch. In reality, it was likely just hunters at their campfires.
But to a child, it was a nightmare landscape—grey skies, biting cold, and the sound of weeping echoing through the trees.
The Countess did leave her room for work. She managed the lands with a desperate intensity, collapsing the moment her duties were finished. While it wasn’t unusual for nobles to be distant from their children, it felt as though she had actively withheld her love. Perhaps only from Adi.
The rest was a blur of misery, especially after Adrian’s health failed.
“She lived like a hermit,” Adi said softly.
Had that been the point of no return?
“As if she had retreated from the world by choice.”
Or had she always been that way?
“A woman defined by her own tragedy.”
“You knew her?” Adi asked, looking up at Dimitri.
He hadn’t made the connection at first. He had seen her only as the niece of Bert Dean. But now, looking closely, he saw the resemblance. Those same deep, amber eyes.
“I encountered her on a few occasions.”
“I didn’t think there was any link between Woodpecker and Grimaldi.”
“There isn’t.”
“Are you a Northerner? Your name suggests it.”
“I am. I grew up in the lands near Grimaldi.”
A rare softness touched his gaze.
“Do you miss your home?”
“…As the years pass, a certain nostalgia takes hold,” Dimitri admitted, his eyes drifting toward the horizon.
Adi wondered exactly where he was from. He looked like he belonged in the rugged northern forests. She could imagine him with a thick beard and a heavy furs, a true man of the mountains.
Instead, he was meticulously groomed. Even in the sweltering southern heat, his cravat was tied with suffocating precision. It seemed rigid, but knowing he was from the North made his habits understandable. Adi touched her own collar, which she also kept tightly fastened despite the sun.
“I loathed it when I was young. The North… it was a miserable place.”
“You did?”
“It’s different now. But the fact that I feel this longing proves that some roots are never truly severed.”
Adi wondered if she, too, would one day find herself missing the North.
…Even if I want to forget it?
“If you are willing to learn, we should coordinate our schedules. You must have some time between your duties.”
“I’m on the night rotation, so I can fit my schedule to yours.”
“We will find a time that doesn’t compromise our responsibilities.”
Dimitri checked the time, clearly needing to depart. Adi looked at him and said, “I am in your hands.”
Dimitri looked down at her, his eyes narrowing slightly, and then…
He gave her a smile.
“Let us try to be allies from this point forward.”
The expression caught her off guard. It was surprisingly kind.
