"I love you."
This was what he had wanted to hear. It had become a routine now — something that could not be skipped, no matter how heavy the Grand Duchess's duties or his own.
He had spent nearly twenty years at Winter Castle, and yet there were still nights when sleep refused to come. Tossing and turning, a sudden chill, lying awake for hours and ruining the next day. But lately, that hadn't happened.
It was that phrase Daniela gave him. He loved it too much.
"I love you too. Truly."
The words came naturally now. And the light kiss that followed felt like a sanctuary at the end of each day.
In the beginning, he hadn't been able to say it to her directly — he'd hovered around her, or found excuses to meddle in the Grand Duchess's affairs. Not that Daniela wasn't perfectly capable of handling them herself.
Honestly, to put it plainly. He had simply wanted to be loved.
"It comes so naturally now. Grand Duke?"
"Don't call me Grand Duke. It sounds like you're keeping your distance."
He spoke to her as she sat at the edge of the bed, whispering softly. His hand rested on her waist. Listening to her voice murmur from within his arms,
he found his mind settling, naturally and without effort.
And she was beautiful, besides.
"Give me a little more time. Grand Duke."
He couldn't find a single word to say to her as she smiled faintly. He reached up with his other hand and touched her face. The moment his fingers grazed her cheek, he felt the soft give of it.
Endearing — and then, in moments like this, something more.
Had she cut her hair? It seemed just slightly shorter than it had been yesterday.
"I'll wait. Always."
"I'm not going anywhere."
He felt the warmth of her in his arms. She smelled of violets. It was fair to say this was the most restorative moment in any given day for a Grand Duke who had no shortage of burdens.
Well. He'd like to linger a little longer.
It's a shame there's still a bit of work left.
"Now that I think of it, I heard you're going south."
"Nothing's been decided yet. It's more of a thought — that it might not be a bad idea."
He loosened his hold on her slightly. Daniela rose from the bed first. Was she displeased? She walked toward the desk in the study. She ran her eyes over it once, then settled herself against its edge, perching on it. Her gaze drifted — and came to rest on him.
Lately, it felt like the balance of power had shifted rather considerably.
"You don't like it?"
He posed the question, but Daniela didn't answer, turning something over in her mind. An awkward silence filled the room.
Just a moment ago she was whispering beside me, and now this.
What was she thinking about?
"You don't need to worry. Leor is already in the south, and there are about two hundred soldiers stationed with House Barth."
"Grand Duke. That's not what this is about."
He looked at her steadily. Those blue eyes were turning something over carefully. She touched her golden bob from time to time, murmuring quietly to herself.
She doesn't need to worry that much.
"Even if something goes wrong, House Barth's forces will surely mobilize...."
"Mm — may I come with you?"
That was unexpected. Daniela settled properly into the chair. She wasn't looking at any documents, but the way she sat in that chair reminded him of someone. If the ministers or Alfredo had seen her —
they might well have said she was sitting exactly like him. Specifically, the posture he only adopted when he needed to be at his most disagreeable.
Not sitting straight in the chair, but sliding his hips to the very edge and perching there.
She didn't need to pick up that particular habit.
"Daniela. There's no need for that. If it's too much trouble, you don't have to go."
"No. I think it would be better if I went."
"It might be fine, yes. But — I don't want to put you in front of the Crown Prince unnecessarily."
The honest answer slipped out before he could stop it. There were reasons he didn't want to bring her. Two, roughly.
If the Crown Prince showed any contempt toward Daniela, he would lose his temper far worse than before. Worse than he ever had — he wasn't sure he could hold back.
And there was jealousy, too. Daniela was always beautiful here in the North, but — how to put it.
There were moments when he didn't want to show her to anyone else. Especially the thought of her eyes turning toward another man — that alone was enough to make him jealous.
And then the Grand Duke's dignity would be...
"Since becoming Grand Duchess, I've learned a few things from the work. Grand Duke."
"Is it too much? I can take some of it."
"I'm fine. That's not it — it was something about my family."
Something about House Barth?
The Owls wouldn't have leaked information to Daniela. And Dorgon's reports were restricted from the Grand Duchess's access.
In principle, the Grand Duchess concerned herself only with household affairs and matters internal to Winter Castle. She could not involve herself in the North's political affairs.
This was not simply a matter of her being a woman. It was closer to a deliberate curtailment of the Grand Duchess's authority, to keep the consort's family from gaining undue influence.
But it had been a long time since there had been a Grand Duchess before Daniela, and above all, the relationship between Daniela and House Barth was a complicated one.
"A letter arrived a few days ago."
"To you? From whom?"
"It was from my father."
This was a first. Most letters and documents that came to Winter Castle passed through his hands.
House Barth had sent a letter to Daniela without his knowledge.
The hand resting on the bed slowly curled. He hadn't meant to apply force, but the bedsheet creased on its own.
"I'm sorry. Grand Duke."
"No. It's — that can happen."
He hadn't wanted to draw her into the political arena.
He rose from his seat and crossed to where Daniela was sitting. She seemed a little deflated, and he wanted to ease that.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. Daniela laid her own hand lightly over his.
"What did the letter say?"
"I'll show you."
Daniela drew a letter from the stack of documents. The torn envelope bore no seal of any kind.
It had the feel of something sent in secret, precisely as described.
When Daniela handed it to him, he read through the lines slowly.
Worry. Concern about what the North was like, whether he was treating her well. That part stung a little. What did they take him for.
But the last two sentences held the real weight — the head of House Barth's private anxieties, laid bare.
"He has a great deal on his mind. My father-in-law."
"F-father-in-law...?"
"Well, he is Daniela's father. Though he did go a bit far, admittedly."
He smiled faintly. Daniela met his eyes and smiled back, just slightly. Right — at least she'd been honest with him.
But the situation facing House Barth appeared to be quite serious. They had agreed to send North's forces, but the pressure the other houses were feeling seemed to be worse than he had anticipated.
After Leor's arrival and the North's forces taking up position in the south, the quiet maneuvering to carve out House Barth would have come to nothing.
But the moment it became clear that House Barth had turned to the North's side, the offensive from the nobility and the imperial family had begun in earnest.
No more need to hide it, apparently.
"This time, they've been more or less forced to attend a gathering led by the Crown Prince."
"I understand that Father is worried, but—"
"The timing is difficult. It's too soon."
It was still too early in the North's plans. The Central Bank had only just been established, and Jackson had barely begun his work.
On top of that, the funds and loans for House Barth had not yet been dispatched.
He had expected at least a year — perhaps a year and a half.
"I'm sorry to Father, but — mm, I think so too."
"Really?"
"Because you must have something in mind, Grand Duke. I'm not sure what it is, but."
"I'll need to think this through."
He looked at Daniela quietly. She was beautiful.
Setting that thought aside for a moment — there did seem to be some reason for her to go. If House Barth held out in the current situation, they would inevitably lose whatever standing they still held.
It would have no effect on the North, of course. The south's political reach didn't extend far enough to touch the North.
But if House Barth's influence was allowed to diminish,
the share that was rightfully theirs would no longer add up. In that case —
"What do you want to do, Daniela?"
"I am only on your side, Grand Duke."
"Mm...."
"I only feel sorry toward you. It felt like I was keeping a secret. That's why I told you."
So that was why she had mentioned the letter.
Without thinking, he brought his face close to her shoulder. Naturally, Daniela pressed her lips to his cheek.
"You don't need to worry. How could I ever be disappointed in you?"
"Hehe..."
The tension eased, little by little.
Taking Daniela south didn't seem like the best choice — but if it could be framed as a show of support for House Barth, it might not be so bad.
The psychological distance between the North and south was as vast as the physical one, and it seemed the south occasionally forgot the North existed at all.
But the moment Daniela arrived, the power struggle between House de Bosch and House Barth would begin.
"Will you be all right? That woman — Kartina, was it. The de Bosch girl will push back. Her family will too."
"Hehe, don't worry."
I am worried, though.
"She might say all manner of things, true and otherwise. And to you, she might even—"
"You don't need to worry. Because—"
I am the mistress of the North.