“Did... Rozemyne tell you to do this?” he asked.
“Lady Rozemyne played no role in this,” I said at once, my head cocked to one side. I could not even begin to imagine what I might have done to deserve such a hostile response. “I spoke with her, and she said only that she could not divulge private duchy matters.”
Lord Wilfried took a deep breath as if attempting to regain some semblance of composure, then shook his head. “Forget it. I apologize, Lady Hannelore, but the status of my engagement is irrelevant; I refuse to accept your confession.”
“Excuse me...?”
A stinging chill overcame me, as though I were encased in ice. I had not anticipated a rejection, let alone one so intense. My breathing hastened, a shrill ringing echoed in my ears, and an uncomfortable pressure gripped my chest.
Even then, Lord Wilfried regarded me with nothing but anger.
“I could never accept becoming the aub through your or Dunkelfelger’s power,” he said. “For the sake of both our duchies, I shall pretend this conversation never happened.”
The severity of his refusal was beyond my comprehension. Back in the present, had he not said he would have accepted my confession if I had approached him one year sooner?
“If that is all, then I must go,” Lord Wilfried said with a hard glare, then turned on his heel as if declaring that he cared not what else I might have to say. I could only watch in a daze as he marched out of the classroom, ocher cape swaying in his wake.
Soon enough, I was alone with Professor Eglantine.
“Lady Hannelore,” she called, her voice more tender and considerate than mere moments ago. I turned to her with a vacant expression, and she heaved a sigh before giving me a kind, reassuring smile. “If you predicted that Lord Wilfried and Lady Rozemyne’s engagement was going to be nullified, should you not have waited until it actually happened? Given the circumstances, I doubt you could have picked a worse time to make your move.”
So my timing was the issue? It failed me once again?
Questions ran through my mind. I might not have been able to answer them, but one thing was perfectly clear to me.
“As poor as my timing might have been, I had no choice. This was my only opportunity.”
I had believed what Lord Wilfried had said—that he would have fought for my love if only I had proposed sooner—and had traveled back in time with the aid of the gods themselves to be with him. My stay could last only as long as Lady Rozemyne took to reconnect a single thread, and without my retainers’ assistance, I was restricted to speaking with Lord Wilfried before and after class.
“Forgive me, Professor Eglantine; I caused you unnecessary trouble. I shall take my leave as well.”
I returned to the Dunkelfelger Dormitory, ate lunch, and then retreated to my hidden room. How could I attend classes when my mind was still reeling from shock? There was far too much to reflect on.
Where did I go wrong?
Lord Wilfried had assured me that he would have accepted my confession, but he had done nothing of the sort.
“Was he merely being considerate when he told me that?”
The first time I conveyed my feelings, Lord Wilfried smiled at me, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. I could not bear to think it had simply been an act, but what other conclusion could I draw when he had rejected me?
“He said that he would have put his all into becoming an archduke, but even at this juncture, he clearly has no desire to rise to power.”
On that note, I recalled something that Lady Rozemyne had said to me—that Lord Wilfried had been so desperate to avoid the archducal seat that he had actively sought to end their engagement. I should have remembered it sooner, but the promise of marriage had clouded my mind. Perhaps only the tumultuous year since and the many changes that had come with it had encouraged him to take a more favorable stance on becoming an aub.
“In which case, his response in the classroom makes perfect sense.”
As the final pieces fell into place, I could not help but let out an exhausted sigh. My coming here had served no purpose. In fact, I might even have made things worse.
“What was I thinking? I rushed into action, taking no heed of the hints Lord Wilfried and Lady Rozemyne gave me.”
I was stuck in an unwinnable situation. Here in the past, Lord Wilfried had yet to experience the year that would reshape his thoughts about becoming an archduke and make him more open to marrying me. But in the present, where he had undergone that growth, circumstances prevented us from being together.
“In other words, I never stood a chance of changing things for the better. I suppose it would be nice if, in the future, he looks positively on my decision to confess—not that I think he will with how intensely he shot me down.”
I sighed again. The most I could do now was keep a low profile and hope that my confession at least remained in his memories.
My thoughts organized, I went to my afternoon classes with a slightly calmer head on my shoulders. Lord Wilfried was going to such great lengths to avoid me that even greeting him was out of the question. I gave up on approaching him and went straight to my desk.
“Lady Hannelore, is everything okay between you and Wilfried...?” Lord Ortwin asked. He had been eyeing me since I arrived, having no doubt noticed the change in our demeanor compared to that morning. The fact he was questioning me meant that Lord Wilfried truly had resolved not to mention my confession.
I glanced over at Lord Wilfried. He was looking right at me but averted his gaze the moment our eyes met.
If you must pretend that nothing happened, at least do a better job of acting natural.
Was everyone already suspicious of the truth? Or was the onus simply on me to come up with a reasonable excuse? As I contemplated what to do, I started to wonder whether Lord Wilfried and I had very different ideas of what it meant to pretend something had not happened. The already vast chasm between our duchies seemed to widen, and the thought of marrying into Ehrenfest started to worry me. Would my days be spent attempting to decipher foreign culture, all while trying not to anger Lord Wilfried further?
What response would suit his wishes best?
I sighed, aware that our classmates were especially curious to know what was going on, and returned my focus to Lord Ortwin, who was awaiting my answer. Under no circumstances was I going to admit that I had proposed and then been rejected.
This reminds me—Lord Ortwin’s situation changes quite a bit between now and the present, does it not?
His elder sister, Lady Adolphine, would end up divorcing Lord Sigiswald. Lord Ortwin would then strive to become an aub to best be able to protect her.
“I wish to ask a question of my own,” I said. “Lord Ortwin, do you seek to become your duchy’s next archduke?”
“Well, securing the role proves what one is capable of, does it not? In that regard, I suppose I seek it as much as any archduke candidate would.”