The duel was over. I made my way to the lodgings, receiving greetings from the assembled crowd along the way.
After letting it be known that there would be further opportunities to speak with the various nobles,
Daniela and I slipped away from the rest.
Daniela looped her arm through mine with easy confidence and fell into step beside me.
We followed a servant, walking at an unhurried pace.
"Was that too much?"
"No. That's probably exactly what it takes to knock some sense into him."
She wasn't wrong.
Every time I came south, it seemed like getting into some quarrel with the Crown Prince was simply part of the routine.
Not that I was the type to avoid a fight,
and above all, every time I saw that insufferable smirk of his, the urge to hit him came surging up.
In a way, the Crown Prince had only himself to blame.
There's a saying for people like that. Someone who provokes their own beating.
"Still, I doubt he'll come to his senses. Even at the end, when they were carrying him out."
"That is the Crown Prince's own failing. Your Grace need not give it a second thought."
Daniela tightened her grip on my arm as she said it.
They say men who fight each other grow closer for it — but I had not the slightest desire to grow closer to the Crown Prince.
If anything, I ought to have beaten him a little harder before he'd come around. That was the only thought I had.
Perhaps this, too, was the novel's influence at work.
The reason I couldn't stand the Crown Prince.
But I couldn't quite accept that explanation.
I had more than enough reasons of my own to despise him.
Didn't I?
Daniela.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Your Grace? Is there something on my face?"
"Ah — no. You were just so beautiful today."
"Really…"
The servant opened the door and bowed, indicating that this was the room where we would be staying.
It was an extravagant room.
Lavish to the point of being disorienting —
but what unsettled me most were the enormous windows.
They were large enough to make the intent seem almost brazen.
"We'll take a different room."
"Pardon? But the other rooms are already occupied by guests…"
"Then I'll go speak with them myself."
The intent behind this arrangement was transparently malicious.
Windows wide enough that someone could slip through without much trouble.
At this juncture, thinking along those lines didn't seem unreasonable at all.
It brought back memories of our stay at the Barth estate.
Leo had dealt with it then,
but I'd never imagined anyone would be mad enough to actually send assassins.
"Your Grace? Are you uneasy?"
"The intent is too obvious. I don't like it."
Still, simply commandeering someone else's room was a bit much.
And besides, a room this opulent didn't suit me.
A Grand Duke of the North might be expected to occupy such quarters without a second thought,
but to my eyes it was nothing more than extravagance — nothing less, either.
"In that case, we could arrange for a different room—"
"Never mind. Leo?"
Leo, who had been standing behind us, responded at once.
I asked him whether there was a simpler room available — the kind used by servants or the attendants we'd brought along.
It was a method I'd used before.
To avoid the threat of assassination, I had slept elsewhere during our stay at the Barth estate as well.
This level of precaution was essential.
"Sh-shall I show you to where we are staying?"
"A room like this — wouldn't it be perfectly fine for you all?"
"It is, it is rather grand, I must admit."
"Have everyone we brought along sleep here. We'll take your room."
Decided.
I glanced at Daniela. She gave a small nod.
The composure of a Grand Duchess, as ever.
The reasoning was sound: the servants' quarters would be safer than a room that practically invited intrusion.
The servant led us to where the attendants were lodged.
The corridors of the palace were every bit as palatial as one would expect.
I briefly entertained the thought of building something like this in the North, then just as quickly let it go.
"What are you thinking so hard about, Your Grace?"
"Me? Oh — just wondering whether I ought to build a palace like this sometime."
"Please don't entertain that thought, Your Grace — whether in jest or in earnest."
The advice carried genuine weight.
I nodded. I could build such a palace, technically.
People would admire it at first, no doubt.
But it would devour the North's budget whole.
Daniela's expression was resolute.
"Winter Castle is already a beautiful enough castle."
"Y-yes. Quite right."
There was a firmness to her that reminded me of Hexon or Berdo.
They were the very embodiment of excessive loyalty — and this was exactly the sort of reaction they would have given.
There's no escaping it.
But I didn't mind.
This was exactly how a Grand Duchess ought to be.
"The lodgings are a bit cramped."
"Ah, w-well, it is the servants' quarters, after all."
"Take this opportunity to sleep somewhere grand for once."
"W-we are most grateful, Your Grace."
Assassins probably wouldn't come here.
People began moving between rooms.
Our luggage was being transferred here as well.
The servants' quarters were modest. Evidently meant for several people to sleep in at once — bedding and pillows were piled together in one corner.
Well. One set was more than enough for Daniela and me.
"By the way — what's become of the Crown Prince?"
"Ah, he is likely still receiving treatment."
"I didn't expect him to take that much of a beating. Don't misunderstand me."
"I, I did not anticipate it either."
Truthfully, no one had.
A North-style duel was, by any measure, a brutal affair.
But could a fight conducted through proxies truly be called a duel?
In a way, this was the fairer method.
No one else bore the consequences.
You answered for yourself.
"Check on him. But don't make it obvious."
"I, I shall carry out your orders."
"Good. Report to me immediately if anything comes up."
"U-understood, Your Grace."
At last, the servants had been moved.
Daniela and I were left alone in the room,
while two members of the guard took turns keeping watch outside the door.
I had accepted Leo's insistence that the Grand Duke's safety was paramount in a place like this.
The sound of the guards making their rounds outside was almost too loud.
"Your Grace."
The first to break the awkward silence that had settled over the room was Daniela.
She, too, had been listening to the footsteps of the guards patrolling outside.
Unease, it seemed, was contagious.
But Daniela drew closer to me rather than pulling away.
"What is it? Something wrong?"
"Are you all right?"
"Hm? Who?"
I had assumed she was asking about the Crown Prince. But Daniela's concern was for me alone.
Something she couldn't give to anyone else.
I was fine.
Come to think of it, the Crown Prince had landed a few blows —
but not a single one had hit with any real force.
Normally, a punch like that would leave something swollen or split.
I hadn't even bitten the inside of my cheek.
"I was frightened. To see you fight the Crown Prince like that."
"Were you very frightened?"
"Yes…"
Daniela nodded.
Of course — she had grown up in the South. She would never have witnessed a duel like this before.
But I had my reasons.
The word duel. The declaration that she wanted revenge. I remembered it clearly.
"You said you wanted revenge. That's why I did it."
"Even so — you didn't have to take hits for it."
Daniela's emotions were visibly rising.
A faint flush had crept into her cheeks.
I could press the point further, perhaps. But that wouldn't be honest.
Being honest with my Grand Duchess — that wasn't a bad thing to be.
"You were treated badly back then. I know."
"Pardon?"
"When you were at the academy. That's why you were driven out, isn't it."
What a wretched thing to do — going to such lengths to force a single woman out.
I didn't know all the details yet,
but from what the novel had shown me, I knew that a group loyal to the de Bosch girl had challenged Daniela to a duel.
And through that duel, Daniela had been made to suffer humiliation.
I had wanted to repay that.
And I simply could not stomach the Crown Prince's repulsiveness any longer.
"That still doesn't mean you had to do this, Your Grace."
"Daniela."
"What if you'd been hurt? I worry. I always—"
"I think I'm hurt pretty badly, actually."
I had no choice but to feign injury.
In truth, nothing hurt at all. The fight had been entirely one-sided — calling it a duel was almost embarrassing.
But this was an opportunity.
This is really an opportunity.
The words Alfredo and Hexon had said came back to me suddenly.
Hexon's worry. What a man ought to do.
"R-really?"
"Worry about me properly. Can I lie down for a moment?"
Was the intent too obvious?
But this might genuinely be the moment.
It wasn't as though I had other things on my mind. One could simply assume I was in pain.
It might also put to rest the worries of Hexon and the various ministers and nobles of the North.
And I wasn't getting any younger.
"Let me see. Your Grace. Are you truly badly hurt?"
"Yes."
I lay down on the simple bed.
I glanced sideways at Daniela — but before my gaze could even reach her, she had already come to me.
She touched my face gently, asking where it hurt.
I said nothing.
The silence only seemed to make Daniela more anxious.
Had something happened to the Grand Duke, who had suddenly claimed to be in pain and taken to bed?
"I'll tell you something, Daniela."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"It made me furious. You are my Grand Duchess, and I care for you deeply."
"I — I know."
"And seeing that worthless wretch look at you the way he did — I couldn't stand it."
I meant every word.
I hated it. He still seemed to think of Daniela as some pitiable heroine waiting to be saved.
"That's why I did it. You matter enormously to me."