Chapter 87
Yuls appeared deeply unsettled. The timing of this complication, arriving so immediately upon their entry to the capital, was far from ideal.
The young woman standing before him carried a formal introduction from Marchioness Connolly. She acted as though his consent were a foregone conclusion, offering him a bright, expectant smile. When Yuls shifted his attention to Lea Lintu, she immediately averted her eyes, a flush creeping up her neck.
Adi watched the exchange, noting that most men would find such a display charming. Yuls, however, remained entirely unmoved, his expression like carved ice.
“Where have you been residing until now?” he inquired.
“I was staying in the accommodations provided by the Outer Palace,” she explained. “However, Mother believed that as her newly adopted daughter, it was more appropriate for me to move to the Inner Palace. Her own arrival has been unfortunately delayed, you see…”
“Am I to understand you are requesting a room under my roof until the Marchioness arrives?”
“That is correct, Your Excellency.”
Yuls returned his focus to the parchment in his hand. The letter was a masterpiece of social manipulation, suggesting that housing Lea Lintu-Connolly in the Inner Palace was a matter of maintaining the Duke’s own prestige. No amount of flowery prose or sophisticated rhetoric could mask the underlying scheme.
Despite the abundance of vacant rooms in his residence, the implications of hosting an unattached noblewoman were impossible to ignore. She had to be aware of the scandal such an arrangement invited.
“This presents a significant difficulty,” Yuls stated firmly.
Lea’s cheerful mask slipped. Yuls was fully aware of the game being played. He felt no desire to indulge them, yet he knew that a flat dismissal would only breed more complex headaches later. Marchioness Connolly had calculated this move with irritating precision.
“It would be far more suitable for you to seek the Princess’s hospitality,” Yuls suggested. “Taking up residence here without a clear reason would only spark rumors that would damage the Connolly reputation.”
“But surely, as we are kin, there is no harm in it?” she countered.
“The Marchioness is my relative, not you,” Yuls corrected coldly. “Adoption does not create a blood connection where none exists.”
In truth, he felt no genuine familial bond with the Marchioness either, and even a biological daughter would have met the same wall of resistance. He wondered if Luigi’s passing had left her so desperate that she was now grasping at any connection. If so, she had chosen her target poorly.
“The rumors do not bother me,” Lea insisted.
“They bother me,” Yuls countered without hesitation. “I have no wish to be the subject of groundless speculation.”
For a heartbeat, Lea’s composure shattered. Her lips trembled as if she had been physically struck, but she forced a fragile smile back onto her face. “In that case,” she began, trying a different angle. “Would you grant me the honor of being your companion at the ball in ten days?”
The upcoming Council session meant Ionad would soon be flooded with the nobility. The welcoming banquet served as a prime opportunity for families to introduce their heirs and forge alliances before the social season officially commenced. Historically, Yuls avoided such events entirely, usually arriving in the capital only after the festivities had concluded.
“A ball,” Yuls repeated, his voice flat.
The household staff watched with hidden fascination, marveling at the young woman’s audacity. Dimitri, however, kept his eyes on Adi. When she noticed his stare and looked back, the chamberlain quickly turned away.
“Is this an ultimatum?” Yuls asked. “I must either host you here or escort you to the gala?”
While Lea had likely intended it as a graceful compromise, Yuls viewed it through a strictly logical lens. He fell silent for a moment, weighing his options, before addressing his head chamberlain.
“Dimitri.”
“Yes, Your Excellency?”
“Escort Miss Lea Lintu to a guest suite.”
As Yuls rose to depart, Lea looked up, her eyes bright with a small victory.
“This arrangement lasts only until the Marchioness joins us,” Yuls added.
Adi watched with a slight frown. His demeanor was utterly detached, as if he were speaking to a stranger through a thick pane of glass. Despite the situation, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity for Lea, whose hands were shaking even as she maintained her poise.
The suite assigned to Lea Lintu was situated in a wing far removed from the Duke’s private quarters.
Moving her belongings proved a chore, as she had arrived with only a single personal maid and no escort. Consequently, Adi and Joel were tasked with assisting. The amount of luggage was surprisingly vast, requiring Joel to summon three additional servants to help carry the heavy trunks. Lea led the way, frequently glancing over her shoulder as if the sight of a procession following her was unsettling.
Had it been his own master, Joel might have offered a critique of her behavior, but he remained silent for now. He found the entire situation distasteful. He worried that Adi might misinterpret the Duke’s actions and decide to leave—a disastrous prospect, considering she was the only one capable of lifting the Duke’s burden. Whatever Lea’s ambitions were, they couldn’t be allowed to jeopardize the bond between Yuls and Adi.
Joel stole a glance at Adi, but her face was a mask of indifference. Her lack of concern was almost more troubling than anger would have been. He felt a surge of frustration toward the Duke; how could he let things become this muddled?
“We are heading to the fourth floor,” Joel announced as they climbed the stairs.
Both Lea and her maid looked dismayed. In noble households, the second and third floors were reserved for honored guests. Consigning someone to the fourth floor was a silent declaration of their low priority. Though Lea felt the sting of the insult, she had no grounds for complaint.
The suite consisted of three modest rooms. The maid’s quarters were cramped, offering less comfort than the standard housing provided for the Duke’s regular knights and staff. Since the adoption hadn’t been legally finalized, Lea’s social standing was currently ambiguous—perhaps even lower than the senior staff members. The realization seemed to settle heavily on her as the servants deposited the trunks in the small sitting area.
“I shall leave you to your rest,” Joel said. He did not bow, as his own rank within the household was technically superior. Adi followed his lead, offering no formal salutation before turning to leave.
“My thanks, Sir,” Lea murmured. Her eyes trailed over Joel and then Adi, though she seemed to see them only as nameless fixtures of the estate.
As they made their way back toward the central wing, the walk was long, given the distance between the guest rooms and the Duke’s study.
“The Marchioness is a cunning woman,” Joel grumbled. “She writes a single letter and leaves this poor girl to handle the fallout.”
“You think so?” Adi asked.
“Certainly. She gambled on the fact that the Duke would find it difficult to turn her away entirely.”
“But he did refuse her at first,” Adi pointed out.
“In the end, she’s still under our roof, isn’t she?” Joel looked at her sideways, searching for any sign of jealousy. “You haven’t… taken this the wrong way, have you?”
Adi looked down at him. “Joel.”
“Yes?”
“There is no need for such concern. Our arrangement is mutual; the Duke and I serve each other’s needs. Besides, I have sworn my sword to him.”
Joel remained silent, realizing she might be entirely oblivious to the romantic implications he was worried about. He looked so dejected that Adi jokingly nudged his chest with her fist. It was a gesture she had picked up from the knights, forgetting that Joel was a scholar and a mage, not a warrior. He winced at the impact.
“If I ever decided to move on, I would give the Duke fair warning,” she added.
“Could you just stay? Permanently?” Joel asked hopefully.
“If the circumstances allowed… I would like that,” Adi admitted.
Joel’s mood instantly lifted. He chose to interpret her loyalty as a sign she would stay forever, provided the Duke didn’t drive her away.
“I’m actually quite curious about the ball,” Joel said, changing the subject.
“Will you be there?”
“Not in the ballroom with the high lords, but the staff has their own celebration. We gather to eat, drink, and make merry while the nobles are busy.”
“That sounds pleasant. The knights are usually stuck with sentry duty.”
“You’ll be attending the main event, won’t you, Adi?”
“I’m sorry?”
“The dress? The servants worked themselves to the bone making sure it was perfect. They were determined to make you the most striking person in the room.”
“I have the dress, but…”
“Please tell me you didn’t leave it at the estate,” Joel said, sounding panicked.
“No, the staff packed it with my things. I just didn’t think there would be an occasion to wear it.”
Joel sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. It would have been a tragedy if you’d tossed it aside. The people who made it would have been heartbroken.”
“I’ll check my trunks later,” Adi promised.
They reached the drawing room doors. Joel knocked and ushered them inside. “We have returned, Your Excellency.”
Yuls was seated on a sofa, buried in paperwork. He looked up at their entrance. He had agreed to let Lea ‘borrow’ some help, but he hadn’t expected her to specifically enlist Adi. He had been momentarily stunned when Adi agreed so readily, but seeing her now, she appeared entirely unfazed by the encounter.
Adi offered a respectful nod to Dimitri and Bert. The latter signaled for her to join him outside. As she stepped out, Yuls’s eyes followed her until the door closed. Dimitri noticed the look and frowned, clearly grappling with a difficult realization.
He had been waiting for a private moment to voice his suspicions. Now that the others were gone, he turned to the Duke.
“Your Excellency.”
Yuls looked up. “Yes?”
“Forgive my intrusion, but regarding Adrina Dean… is she…?”
“If you are asking if she carries the Grimaldi name, the answer is yes,” Yuls stated, anticipating the question. He knew Dimitri had likely been waiting for Bert to leave before speaking.
“I assume you aren’t planning to hold her lineage against her?” Yuls added.
Dimitri hesitated. “I… it is just…”
“Treat her with the respect she deserves. She is, after all, a distant relation of yours.”
“My ties with the current Grimaldi line are strained, to say the least,” Dimitri admitted.
“As are hers. You know the history.”
Dimitri fell silent. The reports from Pallesa had been thorough. He knew the official story—that Sir Adrian Grimaldi had fallen there, and that his sister, long thought dead, had somehow survived and appeared in the Duke’s service. He had accepted the cover story of her being Bert’s kin without much scrutiny, a lapse he now regretted.
“And you should know,” Yuls continued, his voice low, “that she is the only person capable of breaking my curse.”
Dimitri’s eyes widened. “I was unaware of that.”
Yuls looked at him for a long moment before returning to his papers. “You are aware now. That is all that matters.”
