To my surprise, the duke had come with a warning. Yet more surprising was that she openly called the emperor a coward. As Lily let out a long sigh, Eliza’s lips drew tight. She glanced at her empty teacup before speaking.
“Lady Lily, I think perhaps you’ve gone too far. This can’t possibly be an easy time for Lady Karen.”
“Forgive me, Eliza. I am honest to a fault, and unlike you, I’m incapable of such consideration.”
“We’re all painfully aware of how hard things have been for you, Lady Lily, but Lady Conrad is not as wicked as you might think. Isn’t it obvious in her hair...?”
At this point, perhaps because she realized I was still right there, Eliza let out a gasp and fell silent. As somebody so close to the duke, she must have heard about my relationship with Ern, and she had gathered from that why I now had a head of white hair. Before the situation could fall into an awkward silence, however, Lily spoke up.
“We’ll get to why I’m really here just as soon as His Highness arrives,” she said. “But apparently he’s running a little late. Had to look for something, he said. That’s why I brought Eliza with me...”
“Oh, yes...” uttered Eliza timidly. “There’s someone I’d like to introduce you to, Lady Karen. Do you mind if I call him in?”
“Of course not.”
Eliza’s expression brightened immediately.
“Excellent. Please wait just a moment.”
Eliza practically ran out of the room and, moments later, brought back a young man who was perhaps about thirty... No, more like in his late twenties. What made it difficult to nail down the young man’s age was that his hairline was receding just a little... Well, actually, quite a lot. I mean, he looked friendly enough, and his rotundness pointed to him at least being very well-fed. He stood a little taller than Eliza, so he was rather on the short side. I based my age estimate on the glow of his skin and eyes.
“Let me introduce to you my childhood friend and fiancé, Simon!” Eliza said, looking very proud of herself.
I almost fell out of my chair.
Fiancé?!
Eliza was in her late teens, and she was engaged to a man in his late twenties... Well, that wasn’t actually all that difficult to understand given the world, but...what I couldn’t quite seem to grasp was the stark gap in terms of their looks. The young man was well-dressed, to be sure, but he did not look to me like a member of the nobility.
“I’m Simon. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Conrad,” he said. “On behalf of both myself and Eliza’s parents, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your aiding Eliza when circumstances were most dire.”
“My parents want nothing more than to thank you for everything,” explained Eliza, “but I thought it would be horribly rude to bring everybody all at once, and so Simon is here on their behalf.”
Simon was very well-mannered, and Eliza looked at him with a blissful smile.
“Simon is an accountant for a merchant I’m on good terms with,” said Lily. “He’s not a nobleman, but he’s excellent at what he does. All the same, you have to admit that they make quite the unusual pair, no?”
“We get that a lot,” said Simon. “Eliza’s parents are about as open and friendly as they come, and our families have always been close. I spent my youth looking after Eliza as she grew up, and it was always my intent to be like an older brother to her, but...”
“But you’re so dashing, Simon!” declared Eliza. “If I hadn’t nailed you down with an engagement ring early, some other woman would have swooped in and stolen you from me!”
“Ah, to be so loved,” remarked Lily. “She pushed the engagement on him, and he folded immediately. Amazing, isn’t it?”
Simon offered a sheepish grin as the duke went on.
“I had Simon come when I realized I’d be in the capital for longer than expected.”
Eliza’s family had moved to the capital to do business, and it was not long after their arrival that the emperor took an interest in her. Simon had sent her off to breakfast with a bright smile because he simply didn’t know any better, and in fact, it was only once Simon bragged about it to his superior that he began to worry. Said superior was the merchant Lily had just mentioned, and rather than reacting to Simon’s news with joy, his brow furrowed. The merchant had worked with Lily a long time—certainly long enough to hear all the rumors about the emperor, and so he raced off to consult Lily at once.
“It wasn’t something I could simply turn a blind eye to,” said Lily, “and it was as I was considering how best to handle the situation that a request came from none other than the prince himself. He asked that I keep Eliza and her family under my care, and I was only too happy to do so.”
Eliza’s family had left the Tuna domain to make a new home in the capital. Their former residential status was, by itself, not much of a motivator for the duke, but her merchant friend had deep ties with the family. As such, she was only too happy to have both Reinald and the merchant in her pocket and owing her a favor somewhere down the line.
“I’m just glad to hear that they are safe in your care,” I said. “Has there been much in the way of news since?”
“We’re still under Lady Lily’s care at present, but my parents are currently making preparations to return to the Tuna region. It hasn’t been very long since we arrived, but that’s our recommended course of action.”
“Eliza’s parents come from a line of extremely skilled engravers,” explained Lily. “I recommend you get in touch when you’re next looking for an accessory—they’ll overdeliver on whatever you order, I assure you.”
So, not only did Duke Tuna have two favors to call upon whenever she wanted, but she also had a skilled family of craftsmen back in her own domain.
“To have gained the attention of the emperor is an honor above all others,” said Simon, “but Eliza is a beloved member of our family, and while I’m aware it’s rather thoughtless of me, I’m relieved to have her back.”
“The emperor’s fickle attention is more a curse than a blessing,” said Lily. “And the worst kind, to boot.”
Simon looked unsure of how to respond, but he did not seem to disagree with her either. It was clear that the duke had a bone to pick with the emperor.