Professor Anastasius had permitted Lord Ortwin to speak with me during class because he, too, had used that time for courtship. Professor Eglantine had experienced the opposite end of those exchanges, so she refused to enable such antics in her classroom.
“If you must speak here, then I shall observe to ensure you do not use your authority as an archduke candidate of a greater duchy to pressure Ehrenfest into submission,” Professor Eglantine continued. “If you take issue with that, then leave my classroom at once. You would do better to arrange a meeting through the proper channels.”
It must not help that Klassenberg strives to keep my duchy away from Ehrenfest.
I was taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. Professor Eglantine had a good reason for her terms, but that did not make them any less troublesome. I would never have expected—nor wanted—to confess under such close supervision.
Unaware of my mental anguish, Lord Wilfried accepted Professor Eglantine’s proposal with a smile. “You may watch us, if you wish. I do not believe Lady Hannelore would make such demands of Ehrenfest.”
“I appreciate it,” she said, then stared at me intently. “Are your thoughts the same, Lady Hannelore?”
For a moment, I wondered whether I should give up on proposing... but leaving empty-handed was not an option. Turning down Professor Eglantine would give the impression that I had wanted to make an unreasonable demand, and there was zero chance of my neurotic retainers letting me speak with Lord Wilfried under any other circumstances.
Before, I proposed with Kenntrips and Lord Ortwin watching. This is nothing in comparison.
Indeed, confessing in front of Professor Eglantine would weigh on me far less than doing so in front of two people who had declared their feelings for me. I placed a hand on my chest, took several deep breaths, and measured the distance between Lord Wilfried and me.
Is he too far away? No, not when his guard is entirely down. Professor Eglantine seems wary, but from where she is now, she stands no chance of stopping me. I shall pin my target down faster than she can even attempt to intervene.
“Very well,” I said with a nod. “Observe us, if you wish.”
Professor Eglantine’s features relaxed into a smile, and she turned her attention to Lord Wilfried. It was an invaluable opening I could not overlook. I closed in on my mark and swept his legs out from under him.
“Wha...?”
“Lady Hannelore?!”
Oh, right... Lord Wilfried does not know how we of Dunkelfelger propose.
Last time, Lord Ortwin and Kenntrips had brought him up to speed. It fell to me to explain things in their absence. I seized my target by his shirt to stop his descent, lowered him slowly to the floor to prevent him from hitting his head, and then pinned him down in the least painful manner I could. His dark-green eyes showed nothing but shock.
“This is how a woman of Dunkelfelger proposes when acting against her father’s wishes,” I said, keeping Lord Wilfried perfectly still. “Give me tasks to complete so that we may be wed.”
He merely stared at me, confused. Another quiet “Wha...?” was the most he managed in response.
“Was my explanation not clear enough?” I asked, trying to follow Kenntrips’s and Lord Ortwin’s example.
Professor Eglantine stared down at us, unease seeping through her outward calm. “Lady Hannelore, few outside your duchy will respond to such terms, and even fewer will appreciate your manner of proposal. You would do well to keep in mind that Dunkelfelger’s customs are not the norm.”
“Is that so...?” I muttered. “How do the women of other duchies propose, then?” Neither Kenntrips nor Lord Ortwin had elaborated on the matter. If other women did not pin their men down, it was crucial that I find out what they did instead.
“They express their interest with gifts and pleasant remarks, then have their desired partner propose for them,” Professor Eglantine said, a distant look in her eyes. “Proposing is a man’s job. Rarely do women take matters into their own hands.”
I had thought there might be other, less forceful ways for women to make the first move, but no—ours was the only duchy where women proposed at all.
Goodness. I was none the wiser!
Pinning a man down, requesting a chance to prove one’s worth, and then completing whatever tasks he set to earn his hand in marriage seemed perfectly acceptable to me. It was a test of one’s resolve and spirit, and a poignant one at that. Perhaps it would be wise to spread our custom to the women of other duchies as well.
“Release him, if you would,” Professor Eglantine said with a sigh.
I rose to my feet, and the subject of my confession slowly did the same. He took a small step back as if to put some distance between us.
“Not to sound rude, but, er... do you truly wish to propose to me?” Lord Wilfried asked, now more suspicious than surprised. “I thought last year’s ditter match was behind us.”
“Yes. I want to be with you,” I declared. “I want you to want it as well.”
I had thought Lord Wilfried would appreciate my confession. Instead, he looked openly annoyed by it. Only a day had passed since he had laid his heart bare to me—at least from my perspective—yet his reaction to my emotions could not have been more different.
How could this be?
“Lord Wilfried already has a fiancée—and one who is bedridden, at that,” Professor Eglantine noted. “Is it not obvious why such a proposal would trouble him?”
A calmness came over Lord Wilfried, who merely nodded in response. Because I was from the future, I knew that his engagement had secretly been canceled—but how could fourth-year Hannelore have gathered that?
I need some manner of excuse.
It took me a moment of contemplation, but I remembered my time spent with Lady Rozemyne and those fated to be former royalty. “Perhaps, but is his engagement to Lady Rozemyne not soon to be terminated? I was with her and the royal family during the Archduke Conference; of course I noticed the change in their relationship.”
Lady Eglantine and Lord Wilfried were struck speechless. I had composed an excellent rebuttal without openly exposing my knowledge of the future.
“If our engagement must wait for that news to be revealed, then so be it,” I said. “Lord Wilfried, I will spare no effort in helping you become the next aub.”
Lord Wilfried stared at me, incredulous, his face as pale as it could get. There was no warmth in his eyes; instead, he positively radiated outrage as he clenched a trembling fist in front of his chest.