Our first music lesson was finally upon us. Despite my best efforts, I had failed to understand Kenntrips’s wish, the rumors about Lord Wilfried and me continued to spread, and Lord Ortwin remained ignorant of the truth about my hairpins.
I shall consult Lady Rozemyne!
Speaking with her would solve everything except the matter with Kenntrips, I thought as I made my way to the music classroom. Archnobles and archduke candidates took the lesson together, so the room felt much busier than usual.
“There she is,” Heilliese said, indicating a young woman in a dark-blue cape. She had found our target so quickly because the latter’s hairpin matched my own. “Lady Rozemyne’s hairpin uses a red-to-white gradient of rlyzinies, as yours do, yet the colors still appear unique.”
“The woman who made them took great care to choose shades of red that best suited the wearer. Mine is bright pink, whereas Lady Rozemyne’s is more of a deep crimson.”
Indeed, although our hairpins used the same design, their colors set them apart and ensured that they suited us both.
“Good day, Lady Rozemyne,” I said as I approached her, the flowers in my hair swaying with each step.
“Good day to you too,” she replied. “Lord Wilfried informed me—through a very angry ordonnanz—that the hairpins I gave you caused a great amount of trouble for you both. I apologize for not anticipating this.”
“I was just as careless. While I rejoiced over my new hairpins, my engagement candidates complained that they could not hope to top them.”
I conveyed my exchange with Rasantark, trying to add humor where I could. Lady Rozemyne laughed, then clapped her hands together.
“In that case, once you have chosen your escort partner, perhaps I could arrange for another special order to be made. I might have beat them to it, but I assume you would still want a hairpin from your partner, no? One can never have too many.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Lady Rozemyne beamed, proud of her idea. She sported a new hair ornament each year and had worn hairpins bearing the season’s flowers and divine color when I visited Ehrenfest. They always paired wonderfully with her rainbow feystone hair stick.
“I see you are wearing both your hairpin and your hair stick today,” I said. “Do you plan to wear more hair ornaments for our graduation ceremony?”
“No more than this, but I do plan to have a new hairpin made to suit my coming-of-age dress. I also intend to use materials found in Alexandria to release a new line of specialty products”—a mischievous grin spread across Lady Rozemyne’s face—“but that is the most I can say for now. Do look forward to them.”
As I understood it, Lady Rozemyne was the innovator behind so many of Ehrenfest’s recent trends. The very notion had once seemed absurd to me, but at this point, I thought she was capable of pretty much anything.
“With you at the helm, Lady Rozemyne, I expect Alexandria to produce new specialty exports by the day. Your smile is so bright and joyful that I feel your happiness as though it were my own.”
“I have established the library city of my dreams, obtained access to all manner of seafood, and restored connections that I nearly lost for good. I could not be more content.”
I wished I could obtain such happiness, then remembered the extreme lengths that Lady Rozemyne had gone to for what she wanted. My expression turned neutral as I fell into thought.
No, I do not think I could mimic her.
I placed a hand on my cheek and sighed. Lady Rozemyne peered at me in response, amusement gleaming in her golden eyes. Her sudden growth spurt meant she now stood a little taller than me. It saddened me to have lost my one advantage over her.
“Well, Lady Hannelore? What do you think?” Lady Rozemyne pressed. “Would you like the partner you choose to order you a new hairpin?”
“If you would not mind, then yes.”
Lady Rozemyne’s kind gesture would ease Rasantark’s misery. And although it would not heal the wounded hearts of the men who saw Lady Rozemyne’s and my matching hairpins, it would at least make the pain less severe.
“Would you welcome an order from me?” asked someone I recognized.
“Lord Ortwin? Erm...” Lady Rozemyne’s eyes settled on me.
I merely stared at our new arrival, unsure what to say. He must have overcome his previous misconception. Then I saw Lord Wilfried behind him, fists clenched in support, and my relief gave way to dark, heavy misery.
“As long as Lady Hannelore has chosen them, I do not mind who the order is from,” Lady Rozemyne answered.
“Oh? I must inform the aub at once,” came the voice of a Korinthsdaum archnoble.
We all turned to look. It was anything but rare to gather information by eavesdropping, but to openly announce what one had just heard? Lady Rozemyne and I exchanged glances.
Was that not exceptionally rude?
I furrowed my brow, unable to hide my displeasure, at which point Rasantark marched over from where he must have been watching nearby.
“Should you not learn a tad more before relaying anything to Aub Korinthsdaum?” The smile plastered across his face did not reach his eyes, which instead gleamed with the light of a predator eyeing his prey. “Reporting only what you just heard might lead him to mistakenly assume that his proposal to Lady Hannelore has been accepted. Her father chose two candidates for her hand, and no nobles of other duchies stand among them. If anyone else hopes to marry her, they will need to prove their worth through a game of bride-stealing ditter.”
“Rasantark, enough,” I said, not wanting to cause more of a fuss during class. “We must remember that Lord Sigiswald of Korinthsdaum is a former royal. He should need no reminders for how those not chosen by Aub Dunkelfelger must petition for my hand in marriage.”
The archnoble grimaced and slunk away without another word. If, after this, Lord Sigiswald doubled down on his proposal to me, I suspected my father might lead Dunkelfelger’s ditter-starved knights straight into Korinthsdaum.
I can only pray that they know better than to make fools of themselves.
“That will do. Please allow me to spend class with my friends,” I said, instructing Rasantark to step aside. But for some reason, he moved to stand beside Heilliese. “Rasantark...?”
“Do let me stay. There might be others who mean to trouble you,” he insisted, his smile genuine this time. “Archnobles will not stand down unless they come face-to-face with one of your chosen candidates. If I abandon you now, Cordula and Kenntrips will decry me as a failure.”
Rasantark was now focused on Lords Wilfried and Ortwin. He seemed liable to goad Drewanchel into bride-stealing ditter, but as I racked my brain for a way to keep him in check, Lady Rozemyne burst into laughter.
“Your candidates really must cherish you, if not even Korinthsdaum or Lord Ortwin gives them pause,” she said. “I must admit, I was a little worried about the character of the potential partners chosen for you, but I see now that I need not have been concerned.”
I turned back to Rasantark with a start. Not long ago, I had been convinced that he had proposed to me purely for the sake of ditter, but now I saw the truth. He even kept a respectful distance while I greeted and spoke with other archduke candidates. Had the Korinthsdaum archnoble and Lord Ortwin not spoken of my hairpins, he would never have stepped forward so defensively.
In some regards, he is not what I am looking for. But he is still going out of his way to be considerate.