CULBE 15

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Chapter 15

But the Fraune County was perfectly fine, wasn’t it?

The Fraune sisters, nieces of the marchioness, had basked in the Selbot Marquis couple’s influence, strutting through the Luxen court as though they themselves were princesses of the grand duchy. They had looked down on Adelind as if she were nothing more than a dependent child.

But after losing his heir and taking on all of those responsibilities himself, the Grand Duke had little time to spend at court. He had no room to notice the political infighting taking place there.

Damian had done his best to watch over Adelind in the Grand Duke’s place, but he had been nothing more than a young boy with no experience in court politics. It had been impossible for him to notice the calculated bullying that took place beneath the surface.

Fortunately, many things changed after Tislin began visiting the palace.

Even so, every time Adelind encountered them at court, she felt as though ants were crawling all over her body.

That fear finally ended when the marquis and his wife were executed for attempting to poison Adelind Lux.

Although the Fraune family had not directly participated in the poisoning, they still suffered the consequences. Countess Sella Fraune had been barred from setting foot in the Luxen court for the past six years.

That punishment had never been given an expiration date.

Which meant someone had clearly intervened to allow Sella Fraune back into court.

“There aren’t many people who could shove her back in front of me and still walk away unharmed.”

Adelind quickly narrowed the list of suspects in her mind.

A cruel smile twisted across her lips.

Still, she chose not to press her grandfather while he was already worried about his granddaughter leaving home for several days.

Instead, she simply added,

“Grandfather… I’m going to kill her too.”

“The best way to get what you want is not to say things like that out loud. You never know who’s listening.”

So…

Grandfather wasn’t actually against it.

Adelind’s black eyes—so much like the Grand Duke’s own—curved into a brilliant smile.

She threw her arms tightly around him.

“Hehe. I’ll be back!”

“Good. You insisted on going this badly, so at least smile. And don’t tease those two too much.”

“I don’t!”

“I’d have to hear everyone else’s opinion before believing that. My precious girl, have a safe trip.”

“Yes!”

Her spirits immediately lifted as she climbed into the carriage.

A direct highway connected Kalchev to Viera, so the journey normally took about four days.

* * *

It took exactly four days and another six hours.

There had been a slight delay along the way, but Adelind safely passed through Viera’s city gates before sunset.

“Wow! Finally!”

And as though someone had been waiting for the carriage to cross the gate…

A massive black horse stepped directly into its path.

“Eek…”

Adelind instinctively shrank back.

Through the slightly parted carriage curtain, a pair of deep blue eyes stared directly at her.

How did he know?

Before reaching the city gates, she’d successfully persuaded the coachman and the escort knights to take a route through the shopping district.

She had no intention of getting out of the carriage—she knew her position well enough.

But surely there was nothing wrong with simply looking outside from inside the carriage.

Yet Damian had appeared in front of her as if he’d read her mind.

Knock. Knock.

Someone tapped on the carriage door.

Adelind stiffened even more.

The moment she cautiously opened it, Damian leaned halfway inside.

“Cover your face properly. Keep the window curtains closed too.”

“…You weren’t planning to sightsee through the shopping district, were you?”

“You already knew! Why are you even asking?!”

Her carefully made plans had been ruined, and she shouted in frustration.

Damian quietly put a finger to his lips.

“Shh.”

Then he withdrew from the carriage and immediately issued orders to the coachman and the escort knights.

“To the manor.”

Even with his face partially covered, Damian Khasanov stood out atop his black horse.

People passing by couldn’t help glancing toward the carriage.

“I wonder which high-ranking noble is riding inside.”

“That knight looks incredible. Is that why he’s escorting it?”

Wouldn’t drawing this much attention actually be more dangerous?

The thought crossed Adelind’s mind.

But trapped inside the moving carriage, all she could do was sulk to herself.

After arriving at the manor, Adelind locked herself in her room, still pouting.

Everyone assumed she’d calm down eventually.

They were wrong.

She was stubborn.

“Young Master Damian.”

The estate steward approached with a troubled expression.

“I asked Her Highness whether she would like dinner served, but she hasn’t answered.”

The steward had managed the Luxen estate in Viera since before Adelind was even born.

He stubbornly continued calling Damian ‘Young Master.’

Normally Damian would have corrected him.

But seeing how anxious the man looked over the possibility that Adelind might skip a meal, he let it pass.

“Will she be alright?”

Even the escort knights who had accompanied Adelind from Luxen exchanged uneasy glances.

To them, Damian meeting Adelind at the city gates was completely normal.

They genuinely couldn’t understand why the princess had become so furious.

Damian, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly concerned.

This wasn’t Adelind’s first visit to Viera.

Claiming she suddenly wanted to tour the marketplace now made no sense.

She was simply being spiteful.

He couldn’t think of any other explanation.

More likely, she was still upset about the engagement.

Standing outside her bedroom door, Damian knocked.

“Adelind. Are you really not eating dinner?”

Inside the room, Adelind thought it over.

The Grand Duke or Tislin might spoil her.

Damian absolutely would not.

“I’ll eat!”

The escort knights looked at Damian with open amazement.

Apparently, Adelind had made their lives rather difficult over the past several days.

After dismissing them so they could rest, Damian focused on coaxing Adelind instead.

“Tis is coming tomorrow morning.”

“…Why are you the one telling me? Have you been talking to Tis?”

At some point she’d opened the door just a finger’s width, poking only one eye out to interrogate him.

“Where else would I have heard it from?”

“But you two hardly ever talk.”

This time, Damian found himself speechless.

The instant she sensed victory, Adelind stuck out her tongue and slammed the door shut.

It’s not like we talk that much now, either.

There was no reason to explain any further.

Whatever her mood, Adelind ate dinner without complaint.

The next morning, she did something extremely unusual.

She woke up early.

She normally loved sleeping in, and after spending all of yesterday on an exhausting carriage ride, she should have been tired.

Instead, she was bursting with energy.

“Damian. Tie my hair.”

“You do realize you’re fourteen years old?”

“What does my age have to do with it? I can’t exactly see the back of my own head while tying it. Hurry.”

This manor was practically a vacation home.

There weren’t any maids skilled enough to style a grand duchess’s hair.

At the same time, Adelind couldn’t entrust something so personal to just anyone.

So Damian had no choice.

Taking the ribbon she handed him, he loosely tied her long black hair into twin tails.

It was the same hairstyle he used to do for Tislin when they were children.

Since Adelind constantly demanded things from him, even Damian—with his once-clumsy hands hardened by sword training—had become surprisingly skilled at grooming.

Her jet-black twin tails swayed gently.

Pure black hair was fairly common from northern Cassetti through Luxen and into central and southern Parfanan.

It was also a hallmark of the Luxen Grand Ducal family, who had almost never entered political marriages with foreign powers.

The Cassetti royal family had once shared that same black hair.

However, after the kingdom united with Manorca to become Cassetti-Manorca, southern Manorcan blood and generations of international marriage alliances had nearly erased the trait.

Even Prince Anatis, now attending the Royal Academy, had light brown hair so close to blond that it was hard to believe he and the Luxen family shared the same ancestry.

“There. Happy?”

“Mmm… Perfect.”

“What time did you say Tis was coming?”

“Eleven.”

A perfect time to exchange greetings and then have lunch together.

Damian selected a book from the study and settled into the drawing room to read.

Meanwhile, Adelind bustled around excitedly, fussing over her appearance.

Around nine-thirty, after all the preparations for receiving their guest were finished, she quietly wandered into the drawing room as well.

Or perhaps…

She had wanted to ask something all along.

“Hey, Damian.”

“You really got engaged to Tis? For real?”