Milly managed to make it to the dining hall and gulp down some water. That alone did wonders for her condition, but the cooks—who had seen the grand duke’s daughter burst in pale-faced and desperate—clearly sensed something was amiss.
Within seconds, a message was dispatched to the infirmary, and scarcely half a minute later, the school physician arrived. One glance at Milly’s complexion, and the very first words out of his mouth were that she was to go home at once.
Naturally, Milly had every intention of returning to the council chamber and resisted with all her strength, but when half the household staff was summoned to escort her to the front gate, she had no choice.
Sulking, she climbed into the carriage and spent the rest of the day puffing her cheeks in indignation until she went to bed. The sheer unfairness of it all almost drove her to tear through the mansion in a tantrum.
And so, it wasn’t until noon the following day that Milly finally learned what had transpired in the council chamber after she left. Invited to lunch by her classmate Lucius, Milly was once again seated in the gaudy second-floor gallery of the dining hall, eating gratin.
“You mean when I couldn’t find you yesterday, it was because you’d gone home sick?” Lucius asked the question with an exasperated air, twirling his pasta on his fork with one elbow planted on the table.
The tone left Milly feeling mocked, and she scowled. “That’s not it. The school physician sent me home. I said I wanted to go back, but...”
“Well, of course. If the grand duke’s daughter were to vomit all over the place, the school would be in trouble.”
“But I’m a council member.” She turned her face away in a huff, swallowing the last bite of gratin. Even that childish gesture seemed to suit her amid the lavish decor of the second-floor seats.
“Lucius,” Gilbert said, sitting down. “How many times must I tell you not to rest your elbow on the table?”
“And what are you doing here, Prince Gilbert? I only invited milady.” Lucius narrowed his eyes in annoyance but drew his arm back grudgingly.
“Why shouldn’t I be here?” Gilbert responded. “Leaving you alone with Milly is dangerous.”
“Dangerous? What do you think I’d do, make a pass at her?”
“That’s precisely it.”
“As if I would attempt to seduce a girl who fills me with fear.” Lucius sighed in exasperation, and Gilbert’s expression only grew more severe. Truly, the two of them were so close it was almost enviable. Close enough to bicker like an old married couple.
“Anyway, may I ask something? What happened after I left?”
The boys could argue later. Since she hadn’t been able to attend the meeting, she needed to know now what had taken place in her absence.
Lucius scratched his cheek awkwardly. “What happened? Nothing, really. By the time I got there, Ike had already walked out. Without him, there was no way to hold a meeting, so it was dismissed.”
“He left too?”
“Yes, right after you. Seems he just doesn’t like you very much,” Gilbert stated bluntly.
Milly had suspected as much, but hearing it outright left her discouraged all the same. All her excitement over the tea party now felt like an illusion.
“I see,” she said, downtrodden. “So he really doesn’t like me. Perhaps it’s because I’m too talented.”
“With confidence like that, I doubt you’ll have much trouble here,” Lucius muttered with a sigh.
Milly, however, was entirely serious. “It’s happened before. Being beautiful and gifted just brings its own set of problems.”
“That may be true, but would you mind if I punched you once?” Lucius joked.
Gilbert’s sharp glare cut him off before he could so much as smirk. Lucius hunched his shoulders in defeat.
“Well, milady, I’m sure you’ve guessed as much, but Ike doesn’t exactly hold a favorable view of the grand ducal house.”
“More than unfavorable, I’d say. What I sensed from him was closer to hatred.”
“Well, I was trying to soften the blow.”
There was no denying it. The way Ike looked at her had felt almost like he’d had murderous intent. Even if she was aiming to play the role of a villainous final boss, being despised by anyone other than Angelina was hardly what she wanted.
“Still, it isn’t that Ike dislikes you personally, milady,” Lucius added.
“Even after shouting at me like that?”
“I wasn’t there to see that part, so I can’t say for sure, but what he resents isn’t you. It’s His Grace the Grand Duke. That resentment spills over onto you as his daughter, milady.”
Gilbert fixed Lucius with another sharp glare. “Why don’t you try ‘Lady Milly,’ hm? As opposed to ‘milady,’ I mean.”
“Yes, sir.” Lucius coughed lightly and went on. “Anyway, you might not know this, Lady Milly, but Ike is the adopted son of Marquis Ivrine.”
At that name, Milly’s eyes widened slightly.
The House of Ivrine. Even Milly, no expert on society, knew the name: the noble line that guarded the kingdom’s easternmost frontier, serving as the wall against their neighboring nation.
The military strength of the House of Ivrine was said to rival even that of Nicholas’s family, the ducal house of Einzdohr, giving it a formidable presence within Aviria. Milly had heard that the eldest son was adopted. Clearly, that was Ike.
“He was originally born into another house, a viscount’s family. But that house’s reputation plummeted about ten years ago after clashing politically with His Grace the Grand Duke.”
“With father?”
“That’s right. I hear His Grace was furious, and maneuvered behind the scenes to isolate them. Sending their eldest son, Ike, to be adopted by distant kin in the Ivrine family, well, I’d wager it was meant to placate him.”
Milly’s expression twisted. It was exactly the sort of thing her father would do.
Kyle Asteara, branded a tyrant and even called “the Demon Duke” in society, discarded courtesy and decorum whenever it suited him, but the moment anyone opposed him, his displeasure was plain for all to see.
Most likely, he’d been incensed at some lower-ranking viscount daring to voice dissent, and lashed out. It was such behavior that drove people away and, in the timeline before the rewind, led him to lose his way entirely.
If only father were the kind of man who listened, he would never have resorted to something as foolish as treason.
But wishing for the impossible served no purpose.
Looking down, Milly let out yet another sigh. She had lost count of how many today. “You seem to know a great deal about Ike’s circumstances.”
“Of course. We grew up together.” Lucius’s face carried an exhausted, resigned look that stuck with her.
Milly had no friends, but even she could imagine how he felt. Ike, constantly tossed about by the circumstances around him. Lucius must have found that pitiable. If Gilbert were caught in a similar situation, Milly knew she would feel the same.
“For all his faults, Ike does care deeply for his family. That’s why he resents the grand ducal house, for tearing him away from the viscount family he was born to. Of course, taking it out on you is foolish, Lady Milly. Truly.”