Dorian got out of the carriage first and took Nyasia's hand as she began to descend the steps. Just then, the sound of horses approached. Rising with them were imperial elite guards.
The horses halted. The captain spoke.
"A pleasant evening, Your Grace."
Dorian didn't look at him.
He was started opening a velvet box.
"His Grace was having a quite pleasant evening until you showed up," Rain said.
"I apologize. We've received reports that Miss Vanery Kissell is here," the captain said, still watching the strange scene before him: the duke on one knee, his hands busy fitting a new pair of shoes onto a veiled woman. Is this truly the man the emperor fears?
Rain observed the captain. So, the Oshens reported the Kissells' presence here.
"What is it?" he asked.
"The emperor has generously offered Miss Kissell a peaceful life at a convent, so she may atone for her father's mistakes," the captain added.
"The Kissells are in the hall," Rain answered. "In fact, it would be convenient for us if you take them away, since they still insist on seeing His Grace and are trying to exploit his generosity."
The captain glanced at the woman.
"Who is she?" the captain asked.
He had to ask the question, even if he'd bear the brunt of the duke's wrath. In the Tenusa Empire, inviting a woman into a man's carriage with him was considered a significant declaration: it meant he intended to marry her.
If the duke were caught in a carriage with Vanery Kissell, it would mean treason, since he insisted on marrying a fallen lady now associated with a criminal history.
Yet the question hung in the air, creating a strange, heavy atmosphere. The captain could feel it—that the woman's identity was a serious breach, something outsiders were not meant to probe.
Meanwhile, Nyasia shifted her small foot. She truly didn't need a new pair of shoes just to visit his house, but Dorian reasoned that Levon would find out she had left Rashet Manor through her shoes. And he chooses to do this right when the imperial guards are here, she thought, with a wry smirk. He's clearly trying to irritate the captain.
"Your Grace, we only want to be certain she is not Vanery Kissell," the captain said.
Dorian selected a shoe and slipped it onto Nyasia's feet. When he spoke, his voice was sharp as a blade. "Oh? But you are not worthy of a single glance at my woman."
He finally turned his gaze to the captain. The air became icy, cutting. "But if you insist and should she prove not to be the one you're looking for, will you be so kind as to deliver your men's heads to me?"
The captain looked into the duke's pitch-black eyes. They reflected a man who savored death and never looked back. The weight of that gaze was something he had never felt from the young princes. All of a sudden, he didn't know what to do.
Just then, quick footsteps from the gates could be heard. It was Cherry, Viridian's steward. She bowed frantically, her gaze consciously flickering to the veiled woman beside the duke.
"Your Grace, something has happened—" She glanced at the imperial guards, still unsure whether she should speak openly. So she kept it vague. "It has to do with… Lady Vanery—"
"Drop her title. She no longer belongs to the nobility."
Cherry's eyes flickered.
"Y-yes."
...
THE GROUP, including the captain, went inside and strode toward the main hall, where a man was lying down on the floor. He was tied up. His eyes were closed, his face red, and he was sweating heavily.
Meanwhile, Vanery was sitting on the floor in disheveled robes. She sobbed in anger, while her pale-faced uncle stood nearby, furious. Then he turned and saw the people entering. The duke! And the imperial captain? He cursed under his breath.
He kneeled immediately.
"Your Grace, please give justice to my niece!" Dilon said desperately. "She was ruined because of this man. There's no way she would do this. Not with this man."
"Are you saying that if the man had been someone else—say, me—she would have gone through with it?" Dorian said, his tone mocking.
Dilon's jaw fell.
"That's not what I meant, Your Grace!"
A Varyn doctor who had just checked the man's body stood up. "Your Grace, I've just examined the young master's body," he began. "He was drugged. An extremely dangerous drug that made his blood pressure rise. He is experiencing a severe headache and fainting. "But that kind of drug works only on men. Miss Kissell shows no symptoms of being drugged."
Vanery rose, hands flailing.
"No—no I was truly assaulted! Why would I drug such despicable man? Dorian—please—you know me well since we were children—"
"Address His Grace properly, Miss Kissell," Bern said calmly. "Or you will learn some severe lessons."
"I—" But she stopped, swallowing hard. Her skin crawled as she looked at Dorian's icy cold expression. Then he glanced sharply at Bern, who stepped in to give a brief report.
The facts were as follows:
Earlier, the guards roaming near the backdoor hurried outside after hearing a woman's scream. There they found Miss Kissell and the Oshen's second young master under a tree. She cried that she had been assaulted. So they took them both. Then, suddenly, she screamed at the man when she saw his face—so much that they had to restrain her for a while.
Bern continued, "This man is the second young master of the Oshen clan, Geron Chad Oshen. His carriage was nearby, and he had two guards with him. I believe he wanted to appear as if he were the duke, to make his presence there less suspicious.
Nyasia scoffed. So Vanery drugged an impostor and screamed that he violated her, thinking it was Dorian all along. When she found out it wasn't him, she got angry.
"She got too excited and forgot a simple task of looking at the man's face," Nyasia whispered, just enough for Dorian to hear.
Dilon's heart sank.
"While she was in the shower, this man must have spied on her, then forced her outside and took advantage of her!" Dilon wailed.
Hours ago, he had still dared to hope the duke would accept Vanery as his concubine. But now...
"Or perhaps he was spying if your niece was the woman in my carriage. Isn't that right, captain?" Dorian said, sliding a cold glance at Geron Oshen.
With a smirk of disdain, Dorian turned to the captain. "Seems we won't be disturbing my woman after all. And no one loses their head over a hasty judgment."
The captain's jaw shifted, then he bowed solemnly. "I beg your forgiveness for my incompetence, Your Grace."
*