It was Duke Lily Ingrid Tuna, lord of the Tuna region, and Eliza.
“Duke Tuna? Lady Eliza...?” I uttered, a little confused.
The duke’s presence alone was the very essence of gorgeous charm, but she nonetheless made sure to further highlight it with her stunning outfit, one that made generous use of actual bird feathers. It was like looking at a rose with poisonous thorns—one you knew you shouldn’t touch but couldn’t keep from wanting to reach out to. She was bewitching, and the contrast between her and the simpler, more naive beauty of her partner made it all the more strange.
“Oh, stop that!” cried Eliza. “Please, call me Eliza like before! I insist!”
She was like an excited puppy, tail wagging a mile a minute. Duke Tuna offered the girl a look like an owner indulging her pet’s innocent charm.
“I know you’re practically bursting to talk about all manner of things, Eliza, but perhaps save them for later?” she said.
“Oh, my apologies, Lady Lily. I’m just so happy to see Lady Karen again. I lost myself for a moment.”
Duke Tuna giggled.
“It’s fine. It’s what makes you so adorable.”
It was then that I realized we were still standing at the entrance to our home, so I invited them into the house proper.
“Such a refined, charming home,” said Eliza, sighing with admiration. “Lady Lily’s residence is gorgeous and truly breathtaking—and so sparkly!—but this reminds me of home, it really does.”
“It’s like the perfect secret getaway,” remarked Duke Tuna. “What a wonderfully nondescript locale for a rendezvous. Oh, how the heart would race.”
Is she low-key calling my house boring?
I could tell Eliza was speaking from the heart—she wore it on her sleeve, after all—but Duke Tuna’s words felt more veiled. I led our two guests to the living room, and Whateley began preparing tea immediately. He was supposed to be resting, but he insisted he be allowed to see the guests settled. He wasn’t coughing, at least, and in any case, he was masterful when it came to such work. That, and we admittedly had yet to find anybody as refined as our family steward.
That, too, was something we needed to think about. Martina could take up some of Whateley’s responsibilities as they pertained to administration and clerical work, but she was not well suited to serving tea. We’d need to hire or train a separate steward for that. In Martina’s defense, I should point out that her tea was by no means terrible, and at any rate, excellence in tea was not expected of her position. In this sense, Whateley’s value was immeasurable—he was as capable with clerical matters as he was matters of the home.
Baked sweets and dried fruits were laid out to accompany the tea, which Duke Tuna was only too happy to indulge in.
“Everywhere I go, everybody keeps putting out that chocolate that’s so popular at the moment. It’s not that I hate sweets by any means, but the lack of variety does get terribly boring. Fruits are delightful by comparison, and I truly do prefer a flavor that doesn’t kill the tea entirely.”
“And so many people always present you with sweets, Lady Lily!” remarked Eliza.
“I’m as bored of them as the men who offer nothing more than good looks. There’s an exquisite beauty in the simplicity of a subtle treat, and yet everybody only seems to have eyes for luxury.”
Lily took a sip of her tea, then another... She seemed to approve of the flavor profile. I gathered that among people of her stature, chocolate was no longer in vogue. The general public still clamored for the stuff, but I supposed that was just the way of the upper classes.
“It would seem you started trading chocolate ingredients with Falkrum as soon as it began to take off,” commented Lily.
“Ah, so you heard?”
“When you’re in the capital, you don’t even have to ask—the rumors come to you. You’re not the only one who made inroads, but many others hesitated because the product was so new. You’ve got foresight—I’m impressed.”
“It was something of a gamble, admittedly,” I said. “What’s popular here might not be popular elsewhere. But I have exceptional aides at my side who offer excellent counsel.”
“They like their sweets especially sweet in Falkrum, so chocolate is as safe an investment as they come, especially when it spreads. It’ll be a staple in no time, and the demand will be consistent. Fine aides indeed.”
Our preparations to trade in chocolate started in earnest almost immediately after Ern gave me my first taste of the stuff. Even then, I could see the future for it in Falkrum, and I practically forced Whateley to go along with the plan. With the steward on board, it was just a matter of Ern surreptitiously giving us the details to her supplier for the raw materials.
“It’s an honor to hear such words from one of your standing,” I said. “Though I must say, I never expected you to visit personally. Do you perhaps have a matter you would like to discuss...?”
“Oh, come now. Doesn’t everybody in the entire capital want to meet with the heroine of the hour, who saved us all from that evil mage?”
Lily flashed me a smile, but it was only for an instant, and her voice took on a far more serious tone as she continued.
“Had you been completely fine with what you’d done, I doubt I’d even have given you the time of day. But it would seem that’s not the case...and that you really did come down with quite the fever. Events have taken their toll on you—you’ve lost weight.”
“Duke Tuna...?” I uttered.
“She was brash, and she was horrendously arrogant, but that mage was adorable, and I liked her very much,” stated Lily, nibbling at her thumbnail. “News reaches me quickly. I’ve heard rumors, some of which I assume are true, but I’ve no interest in uncovering the truth of it all, nor involving myself in the situation. All I’ll say is that the capital was no place for the girl. I would have taken such good care of her.”
“I’ve nothing to say on the matter of Quach,” I said. “Whatever you decide to believe is your truth.”
“You’ve no interest in correcting the rumors swirling around out there?”
“None. I am done talking about Quach.”
Lily closed her fan shut with a tight snap.
“Good,” she said. “It’s a time of upheaval, what with the situation between the crown prince and princess. You cannot live your life by the whims of that cowardly emperor.”