Chapter 46
The darkness of the evening belonged to Adi Grimaldi. Each night commenced with a ritual kiss, and the once-daunting threshold of the Duke’s chambers had become familiar territory. Even the chief steward had stopped attending these meetings, vanishing into the shadows to avoid witnessing things he had no business seeing.
Yuls sat by the window on a settee, still dressed in the formal attire he had worn to the evening meal. His failure to change made Adi wonder if he was expected to assist the Duke with his wardrobe, though it seemed unlikely that a knight would be assigned such a menial chore.
“You’ve arrived,” the Duke noted.
“Your Excellency,” Adi replied.
Yuls didn’t stand, but he reached out. Adi accepted the hand as a matter of course, pressing his lips to the skin. This repetitive, desperate act was fueled by a need for results; since the Crown Prince was clearly unreliable, Adi felt it was wiser to concentrate his efforts here.
When the contact broke, the Duke spoke up. “You need to do more than that.”
“What is the next target?” Adi asked.
“The forehead is done,” Yuls mused. “Perhaps the cheek this time.”
A quiet chuckle escaped the Duke at the follow-up.
“Are you simply working your way down from the top?”
“If the curse remains when we reach the end,” Adi said, “I’ll even kiss your feet.”
“I would prefer you break it before we reach that point. It would be unseemly for the future Count Grimaldi to stoop so low.”
“Nothing is certain,” Adi murmured.
“What do you mean by that?”
Adi immediately regretted the slip. Despite the growing ease between them, there was no reason to expose such private doubts. Yuls’s eyes were sharp, searching for the meaning behind the words.
“Are you implying you won’t inherit the title? Or are you referring to the kiss?”
Knowing a falsehood would be seen through, Adi sighed. “The former.”
“You seem to have very little confidence in the Count.”
Adi remained silent, and Yuls merely watched him. Adi wondered if the Duke had managed to extract the full truth from that one sentence, but he doubted anyone could be that perceptive.
“Adrian,” Yuls said.
Adi moved to silence him, or perhaps just to stop the line of questioning. He placed a hand against Yuls’s throat. It was a bold, almost aggressive gesture that made the Duke flinch, but Adi didn’t hesitate. He leaned in, his lips brushing the Duke’s cheek for a fleeting second before he retreated.
“You are much easier to reach when you’re seated,” Adi remarked. “You’re quite imposing when you stand.”
Yuls realized how frequently he had let his guard down around this man. Had Adrian been an assassin or even just a man with a hidden blade, Yuls would have been dead several times over by now. He couldn’t understand why he felt so at ease. This wasn’t a person he should trust.
“I’ll be moving lower tomorrow,” Adi continued. “Is that acceptable?”
“Lower?” Yuls repeated. He fought the urge to let his eyes wander downward, wondering what the knight was implying. “Where exactly?”
“Tomorrow, I will kiss your hair.”
Yuls let out a sudden, surprised laugh. He decided the knight had no idea how suggestive his words sounded.
“Fine. I won’t get my hopes up.”
Yuls looked at him as one might look at a child, though he suspected the feeling might be mutual. He had no use for someone who found his body a source of excitement. If anything, Adi Grimaldi seemed entirely clinical about the whole affair. The nightly ritual appeared to be nothing more than a chore born of necessity. Yuls felt the same way about the curse, yet he found himself bothered by the fact that these encounters were becoming increasingly tolerable.
It would have been simpler if the girl, Adrina, had been the one here. He could have brought her to his estate with ease or even secured an engagement. But Adrian was a different matter entirely, especially with Claude watching him so closely. He couldn’t fathom why the Crown Prince was so fixated on the Grimaldi heir.
“That outfit looks good on you,” Yuls noted.
“It is a privilege to wear the colors of Woodpecker,” Adi replied.
Yuls had meant it as a subtle invitation to join his household permanently, but the knight seemed to miss the subtext. There was time for that later. For now, Yuls needed to figure out what the boy’s father was planning.
“Tell me,” Yuls said. “What does Count Grimaldi actually like?”
Adi’s brow furrowed. “What he likes?”
He thought of his father’s obsession with family standing and personal prestige. Whatever the Count desired, it wasn’t something a man like the Duke could offer.
“Nothing specific comes to mind. I’m not sure.”
Yuls stared at him for a long moment. “It would be in your best interest to at least appear close to him in public.”
“Is that why you’re asking?”
“No. I have a private dinner with him soon,” Yuls explained. “I wanted to know his preferences so I could get on his good side.”
“Then I am even less help than you thought.”
“Claude wouldn’t have accepted that answer,” Yuls remarked. “I suppose I forgot to mention that the other day.”
The Duke stood up and shrugged out of his heavy coat. Recognizing the signal, Adi moved toward the door to let the valet in. Joel entered promptly, taking the discarded cravat and pulling a light muslin nightshirt from the wardrobe. Adi turned his back to respect the Duke’s privacy during the change.
“If the Crown Prince invites you to join him,” Yuls warned, “do not consume anything he offers.”
Adi listened as the Duke continued.
“And if he is using a pipe, stay far away.”
The Duke’s earlier sluggishness made sense now; it hadn’t been ordinary tobacco. Adi realized he needed to distance himself from Claude entirely.
“You were aware of his habits, Excellency?”
“It isn’t exactly a secret.”
Adi wondered if Spencer Grimaldi knew as well.
“Do you understand why people gravitate toward me?” Yuls asked.
Adi heard the rustle of clothes as Joel worked. He turned back to see Yuls, who was brushing his long hair back while walking toward him.
“Is it just because of my place in the line of succession?” Yuls challenged.
Adi had grown used to the Duke’s height, which had once seemed so intimidating.
“It’s because the alternative is unthinkable,” Yuls said. “They would rather have anyone else on the throne, even someone with a weaker claim. Not that I give a damn about this kingdom.”
“Your own lands are vast enough to be their own country, Your Excellency,” Adi pointed out.
“I have no desire to be a king,” Yuls stated, stepping back.
Joel finished his task by gathering the Duke’s long hair into a tie. Adi noted that despite the long hair and the handsome features, the Duke didn’t look the least bit feminine; his frame was too broad, his features too sharp.
“I don’t want the crown,” Yuls repeated.
“Then what do you want?”
“Even the Royal Guard knows the answer to that,” Yuls said.
He had spent every night bringing a man into his room and allowing scandalous rumors to fly just to break a spell. Adrian was the one whose reputation was at stake, but Yuls didn’t care about that.
“What happens after the curse is gone?” Adi asked.
Yuls realized he hadn’t actually considered the future. He had never truly believed the curse could be lifted. But the possibility felt real now.
“I suppose I’ll try to find some happiness,” Yuls mused.
“Your station doesn’t exactly make that easy,” Adi said.
He looked at the Duke, realizing that after thirteen years, Yuls had likely given up hope until recently. Everything was different now.
Duke Woodpecker was a far better ally than the Crown Prince. If the Duke offered him a way out, Adi would take it in a heartbeat, but he wasn’t sure the offer would ever come. At the very least, Yuls had promised him a favor once the curse was broken. That was enough to ensure he could escape when the time came.
“I hope you get what you’re looking for, Your Excellency,” Adi said. “Especially regarding the curse.”
Yuls looked at him with a strange expression. It was a polite thing to say, yet Adi’s voice carried a weight of genuine sincerity. Yuls couldn’t tell if the knight meant it or if he just wanted to believe he did. He studied Adrian Grimaldi’s face. It was a striking, noble face.
It was a pity, Yuls thought. If only it had been the sister. Not that it mattered; that was an impossibility.
Yuls reached out his hand again. Confused, Adi took it, assuming he was being asked for another kiss. Instead, Yuls pulled him forward with unexpected strength.
Caught off guard, Adi stumbled toward him. With his eyes wide, he watched as Yuls took the knight’s own hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Adi tried to yank his hand back, but the Duke’s grip was firm.
“Your Excellency?” Adi gasped.
Suddenly, the tension left Yuls’s hand.
“My apologies,” Yuls muttered. “I wasn’t thinking.”
A few feet away, Joel stood frozen, his hand clamped over his mouth in shock.
