Kairu's choice was inevitable. She pledged her loyalty to the Grand Duke and told me she would bring all information directly to me without delay. I also made clear that she was never to let Daniela find out. If she did, I told her, my mercy would be as though it had never existed.
I had no wish to spoil Daniela's mood right now. The position of Grand Duchess was a difficult one, but surely it was better than having to sort through the people one was supposed to trust. The Owls agreed.
I issued new orders. For the time being, rather than guarding my own safety, they were to surveil those around Daniela. If anyone showed signs of betrayal, they were to be dealt with on the spot. However, if it turned out to be a misunderstanding, they were to take their own lives on the spot as well.
I returned to the study. Daniela had apparently gone to wash up. Alone in the empty room, I turned back to the documents. The response had come faster than expected. I hadn't thought a spy dispatched from the Imperial Palace would arrive this early.
But perhaps standing against such schemes was itself part of what it meant to be a Grand Duke.
"Haaah…"
Daniela returned to the study with a peculiar sigh. She was dressed in comfortable clothes. Something had changed. Her hair had been trimmed — slightly shorter than before, as though she'd had it redone.
"Did you have your hair done again?"
Daniela nodded. The hair framing her face looked fuller now. The stray strands that had nearly brushed her blue eyes were gone. I set down the documents for a moment and studied her.
"Why — why, is something strange?"
"No, it suits you well. You look entirely like someone from the North."
"I'm the Grand Duchess now, after all."
"That's right. You're the Grand Duchess now."
Perhaps it had begun as a forced connection. Daniela had come to the North, and by all rights she should have died — yet here she was, alive and standing before me. That alone was remarkable enough, but the way she carried herself now was entirely that of a Grand Duchess.
A thought came to me. I didn't mind calling it jealousy. What would have happened if Daniela hadn't been outmaneuvered by that girl from House de Bosch? Wouldn't she have become the Crown Princess as intended — the most celebrated woman in the southern Empire?
Wouldn't she have become Empress when the Crown Prince ascended, and mistress of the Imperial Palace? These thoughts.
Something uncomfortable stirred inside me. I knew the name of this feeling better than anyone. There was no need to think it over. This was jealousy, plain and simple.
"Well, um—"
I nearly said it aloud. Better to keep jealousy buried inside. That was a lesson I'd learned as Grand Duke. Nothing good ever came from letting jealousy show carelessly. But right now, strangely, something was simmering.
"What is it, Grand Duke?"
"Nothing, ah — Daniela. Um, well, the thing is."
Words that should never have left my mouth kept hovering at the edge, coming and going. That was my own failing — a lack of composure. If Daniela were merely one of my retainers, I wouldn't have needed to deliberate like this. But Daniela was, unmistakably, the Grand Duchess.
"Mm. Mm."
"Is there something you wish to say?"
"How was the Academy? From what I've heard, it's supposed to be the finest school in the Empire. Ah — I was just thinking the North might not quite measure up to that yet. Ha, ha."
An awkward laugh. Daniela gave a small smile at my question. A soft pfft escaped her, and the sound rippled through the room. It's not funny. I'm being perfectly serious.
"Hmm, let me think. The Academy… I have more uncomfortable memories than good ones, actually."
"Is that so?"
An unexpectedly eager note crept into my voice before I could stop it. Ahem — I cleared my throat. I'd nearly failed to maintain the dignity of a Grand Duke. That wasn't really what I'd wanted to ask, in truth.
"Are you curious about the Academy?"
"No, not particularly. I was just wondering if it was all right."
"It had its moments, I suppose. I made friends, though they weren't much use in the end."
Daniela's expression was meaningful. Had she guessed what I actually wanted to say? I couldn't very well declare, *How dare you presume to know the Grand Duke's intentions!* A Grand Duchess could do as she liked. But my curiosity was stronger. Daniela's Academy days — something I'd only ever glimpsed in the novel.
In the novel, Daniela's actions and manner of speaking had barely been described. I'd thought of her as nothing more than a run-of-the-mill villainess. Besides, too much time had passed for me to recall the details of the story with any clarity.
And I'd had no idea Daniela was this beautiful.
"There's something else you actually want to ask, isn't there, Grand Duke?"
A pointed remark. Her voice carried certainty. The thing I'd truly wanted to ask.
"It's nothing."
I didn't particularly want to ask. I had a feeling that if I did, I might end up dredging up something from her Academy days — or something she'd been trying to keep buried all this time. You could call it consideration, or, well — I wasn't sure.
"The Academy… now that I think about it, I don't believe there were many times I was truly happy there."
Daniela said it without any particular weight. She moved closer to me, coming around behind me, and placed her pale, white hands on my shoulders.
"What can I do — the present is better."
"Still, the Crown Prince was there. And there was also someone you liked—"
"You're jealous, aren't you, Grand Duke?"
This wasn't the Daniela I knew. This wasn't the character I remembered. I couldn't conceal my bewilderment. Her voice seemed to drift around me.
"I'm not going anywhere, Grand Duke."
"I know that."
"No — Theo. You were worried, weren't you?"
Even a lie didn't work. I couldn't begin to describe how startling it was to hear my name spoken so naturally. But even in the midst of this flustered state, pressing forward with one's own convictions and meeting an approaching threat head-on — that was what it meant to be a Grand Duke.
"Theodor. I'm not going anywhere."
"Ah — right."
"The Crown Prince, or any other man — none of it matters."
"W-well, that's a relief, then."
"Because the time I've spent with the Grand Duke now is far better than anything I experienced before."
Something sharp and sweet. Had she changed her soap? Strangely, every time Daniela drew near, I caught the faint floral scent I'd first noticed at the Barth estate. Without realizing it, my body had gone rigid. This was a first. I hadn't trembled even when a nomadic army had been at my doorstep. I'd never been like this when marshaling the North's forces, either.
"Don't worry."
Why was I trembling so much, in this one moment?
Several days had passed since the banquet the Grand Duchess had hosted. Those who had gone to the Imperial Palace had not yet returned. I'd expected the typical stalling tactics, but it seemed to be running somewhat longer than I'd anticipated.
At the cabinet meeting, the topic that followed the economic matters was, predictably, the people who had gone to the Imperial Palace. If they were killed, it would give us an unambiguous justification. Whatever answer they brought back, we stood to gain — but this kind of stalling was not to my liking.
"The Imperial Palace is dragging its feet. Didn't you say a letter from House Barth had also arrived?"
"Yes, my lord. It appears they are drawing things out somehow."
"Hmm. They're trying to find a way out. I'd rather not give them the time to do it."
I considered the matter. I had no desire to sit idle while the Imperial Palace devised new schemes. It wasn't something to rush, but left unchecked, attention on the North would only grow. The more divided the southern nobles remained, the more time we needed.
If the North were to become entangled in this as well, the political situation would grow even more complicated. The intent seemed to be to drag things out as long as possible and reduce the time the North had to act. Even if that wasn't the case, the longer things were delayed, the more they would be preparing for the offensive to come.
"James de Wintergard should still be somewhere in this vicinity."
"That is correct, Your Highness."
"Then we need to show them the greatest threat we can. What is Leo doing right now?"
"He is in the process of organizing a new elite unit."
The agreement made with House Barth. Agreement in name — in truth, it was a dowry the North was giving to House Barth. That dowry would bind House Barth to us. But it was better to honor the first terms of the agreement before anything else.
"The North's army can only be commanded through a proxy at one's own discretion. You understand that is the condition for any North forces deployed south?"
"Yes, my lord. But that is merely a formality. Is there truly a need to observe it?"
"The soldiers being sent to House Barth are meant to feel like simple reinforcements."
But this was different. I felt the need to threaten the Imperial Palace. While Jackson and Roy were applying pressure, the North had been neglecting the role it ought to have played.
"Summon Leo immediately."
"It shall be done, Your Highness."
"And have him organize a cavalry unit that can depart at once, and send them out. The banner—" I paused. "Fly the Grand Duke's Banner."
Murmuring broke out. Ordinarily, when sending reinforcements or soldiers under a treaty, each house flew its own banner. This wasn't a war — there was no need to fly the lord's own standard.
"When you say the Grand Duke's Banner, do you mean you are issuing Leo a formal order to march?"
Hexon asked carefully. Such a thing had only ever happened in campaigns against the nomadic tribes. But this was not an attack on the South. A simple provocation. A military provocation — that would serve better.
"Tell him not to lower the Grand Duke's Banner until the Imperial Palace delivers a clear resolution. Depart directly for the Barth estate."
"Th-then, what should the scope be—"
"I'll determine that myself."
Until the Imperial Palace reached a clear conclusion, the Grand Duke of the North's banner was not to be lowered — and could not be lowered.
That should be enough to make them understand this was not a matter worth stalling over.