It came the following morning.
I was standing at the window of the private chambers, watching the estate's early morning begin, the groundskeepers crossing the courtyard with their tools and the kitchen smoke beginning to rise from the lower chimneys and the horses being led from the stable for their morning exercise. The ordinary machinery of a household starting its day with the particular unhurried efficiency of people who knew their work and were good at it.
I had been standing there for perhaps ten minutes, not thinking about anything specific, simply existing in the morning the way I had been learning to do more often in recent weeks, without the constant forward motion of problem-solving and strategic planning that had characterized most of my waking hours in this world.
And then the system spoke.
[Main Quest: Survive the Marriage. Status: Complete.]
I stood at the window and read it.
