Chapter 66.1

Lia tracked the movements of the nasty man. Carl lifted a flower pot and slipped a message underneath, then looked up at her to be sure that her emerald eyes had seen him.

She was clenching the windowsill so hard, she felt pain.

She wanted to fly downstairs and read the message but waited until Pepe and the other attendants were finished wrapping up. She needed to wait until they were all asleep.

How much time has passed?

Lia couldn’t take her eyes off the flower pot and kept pacing by the window. Once the clocktower bell sounded at midnight and the light on the first floor was extinguished, she could make a move.

Pepe was generally a light sleeper, but recently, since the war ended, she’s been sleeping deeply.

The only illumination was from a street lamp. Lia, wearing a heavy coat, went out and looked around to make sure no one suspicious was out and about.

It’s time. What does he mean?

She lifted the message, by now wet with snow, out from beneath the flower pot. She opened it carefully so as to not rip it, and noted that the scribble was completely different from the handwriting on the messages the hawk had brought.

That helped her to relax a little.

46 Brill Street. On the day full of the scent of jasmine.

Lia didn’t have trouble remembering where 46 Brill Street is. Not too long ago, she was dragged by Rosina to visit a tailor popular among the upper classes at that address.

The owner of the shop is a woman good at her craft with an eye for detail, as well as a knack for accessorizing. She and Lia chatted for a bit, so she knows Lia’s face. If the owner is one of Carl’s comrades, that means that Lia is being observed by many eyes.

This might be a trap.

As she thought this through, her heartbeat calmed slowly.

Once inside, she threw the message into the fireplace and then snuggled into the adjacent armchair.

Her face seemed to absorb the clear moonlight as she stared into the burning firewood until all that was left was white ash.

***

“Have you heard? Mark’s eldest son has returned!”

“The youngest son of Denver also came back. I’m on my way to see him. Poor thing. Wounded in action and now handicapped. Would you like to join me?”

“Yes. Let’s all go!”

In the month since the armistice, one by one, the enlisted soldiers returned and spread the word of their heroic acts.

Meanwhile, Prince Wade, along with Claude, established a new border on the Valencia Field, finished burying the dead, and then left for the Capital.

The enlisted men’s stories were exaggerated and embellished—from a dawn battle when they were blinded by fog to a muddy slog that caused a landslide.

Yet, all of the soldiers bore the same expression when they talked about the Duke. They all agreed Claude was more frightening than the enemy, seemingly impervious to bullets, with a macabre way of facing the enemy without so much as a blink.

Then they declined to give details and shut down completely.

Lia couldn’t imagine it.

Was the Duke she knew really like that?

She replayed the soldiers’ comments in her mind as she opened the door. Rosina was chatting with Baron Tenan and brightly said, “Sir Kieran apparently just arrived in the Capital. Have you heard?”

“My brother?”

Lia shook her head looking confused. Baron Tenan greeted her only with his eyes and then left.

Rosina pulled Lia closer.

“The Marchioness also came, and all the nobles that had returned to their territory are all coming back to Etaire.”

“Why all of a sudden—”

“The army transport train just left Del Casa a moment ago. They’re coming back. My brother, the Duke and your father.”

“They rescued Father?”

“Yes. God has answered your prayers.”

Rosina made the sign of the cross, grateful that the Marquis, a POW, is now saved.

Rosina clapped her hands as she added that it was rescuing the Marquis that delayed their return.

“I should prepare a welcome back party. Or perhaps an entire festival? Maybe, just a party. Lia, aren’t you happy?”

Lia was definitely happy that the missing Marquis was safe and that they had won the war.

But, why did she feel uneasy? Was it because her heart was pounding faster?

Lia clasped her hands together hard and then stared at her own reflection in the window.

It’s a one-day journey from Del Casa to Etaire.

“Let’s go to the Townhouse to greet Sir Kieran.”

Rosina wrapped her hands around Lia’s clenched hands, as though she understood why Lia was anxious.

“Don’t worry,” Rosina said warmly, “I won’t get you into trouble.”

***

Anastasia opened her eyes, immediately seeing the elegant blue wallpaper exclusive to the Townhouse in the Capital.

She had chosen to go to the Capital immediately upon hearing that Marquis Gliad was returning alive. The moment she entered the Townhouse, all the stress and anxiety caught up with her and she passed out.

Now, with a clearer mind, she tugged on the bell pull to summon a servant.

In response to the summons, an attendant checked on Anastasia.

“Ma’am, would you like a glass of water?”

“Yes. Where’s Kieran?” she asked while tending to her messy hair.

The attendant poured her a glass of water from a carafe saying, “Princess Rosina is visiting with him in the study right now.”

“The Princess?”

Anastasia’s face lit up immediately. She was hoping Rosina and Kieran would marry before summer.

Kieran would’ve already become part of the royal family if it hadn’t been for the sudden war.

Anastasia freshened up and changed with the help of a maid and went directly to the study. Instead of entering, she stood outside the room to eavesdrop.

“So, I need you to go along with my plan,” said Rosina.

“The most important thing is how Lia feels. Lia will try to find her birth mother who’s in Louvre. But to make her a duchess—”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to find her mother as a duchess rather than as an untitled woman? I think so. Just think of the sacrifices she’s made. I’m planning on bestowing power on Lia, Sir.”

“Princess, freedom suits Lia.”

“There’s no freedom in Louvre.”

Anastasia couldn’t help listening in.

The role of a duchess, for Lia?

Here Anastasia realized that the Princess knew Canillian’s true identity. She tiptoed away and went downstairs.