“Is something the matter?” he asked.
“That was a commoner. Are you not cross with him?”
“Not at all. As a Bauer noble, I consider all Bauer children something like my own.”
From that moment on, I knew I wanted to spend my life with him.
The pleasant friendships I shared with l’Ausseil, Clément, and Dole changed greatly once l’Ausseil took the throne. He quickly became preoccupied with business and stopped appearing at social functions. He had the talented and renowned Salas Lilium supporting him as Chancellor, though, so I was sure he would get along fine.
“I miss the time I spent with you three,” he told me once with a wry grin. He seemed to be struggling with something private, but as he was king and I but an ordinary noblewoman, I could not pry. The most I could do was support his Queen, Lulu, as best as I could.
“I’ve made the necessary arrangements to take you as my wife.”
Things with Clément grew even more complicated when he sought my hand in marriage. Having thought he disapproved of me, I was shocked by his proposal. My parents were elated at the idea of me marrying into a duke’s household, but I was more bewildered than anything. I couldn’t grasp what he was after. There were rumors, of course. House Larnach had ties to Sousse royalty, so some thought he was trying to utilize our influence for himself. Others thought he was trying to antagonize Dole, who was increasingly becoming a political enemy of Clément’s. I never did figure out what Clément was really after.
Marriage was a contract between two households. By all rights, I should have married Clément for my family’s sake. I did not dislike him, despite what our bickering might have caused some to think. Unfortunately, my heart was already set on another.
One night, I visited Dole alone. At this point it was already widely known that Clément had proposed to me, so when I arrived at the François manor, Dole scolded me.
“Do you realize how bad it looks for you to visit another man’s house this late? This could affect your marriage.”
Seeing the cross look on his face, I only grew more certain that what I felt for him was love. It was my feelings for Dole that made me hesitate to marry Clément. Before I knew it, I had moved in to kiss him. That face he made then was one I would never forget.
“The one I want to marry is you,” I said.
I did something unspeakably daring then to force his hand. When we woke up in the same bed the next morning, I asked him to take responsibility. Together we went to the Achard manor to announce our marriage to Clément.
Looking back, it might have been all my fault that Clément ended up the way he did. After having his proposal rejected in such an awful manner, he began antagonizing Dole and me at every turn. He’d been by no means a perfect noble before, but he’d had the sense to not cross the line. After Dole and I were wed, however, he descended to new lows of corruption.
“Clément… It is a shame things had to come to this.”
l’Ausseil, unable to overlook Clément’s actions, was forced to punish him, downgrading his title from duke to marquess. Clément ceased to publicly harass us from then on but continued to behave in corrupt ways behind the scenes. There was no doubt in my mind that it was my fault he’d ended up like that.
I was stricken with guilt for some time, but eventually, that passed. I was too preoccupied to linger on the past. My marriage to Dole was going smoothly, absent of trouble. We were both in good health, so it was only a matter of time before I was pregnant. Dole and I both worked hard to welcome our coming child. Though I still felt bad about what happened with Clément, this was more important. Our discord had nothing to do with my child.
By this point in time, the political stances of our original group of four were clear. L’Ausseil continued to follow his ideals of a meritocracy, Clément was your archetypal conservative, and Dole and I were progressive idealists. L’Ausseil preached plans to support commoners while Chancellor Salas did what was necessary to actualize them, Clément opposed the plans, and Dole and I voiced our support. Things between the conservative and the progressive factions gradually grew more and more heated. Eventually, it became commonplace to see houses in good standing ruined overnight.
House Achard and House François came to lead the conservative and the progressive factions, respectively. Clément and Dole’s influence grew to a point where many of the other nobles would wait for their opinion on matters before daring to speak. Meanwhile, the tension between the two houses only grew with each passing day. Dole worked hard on the political stage, while I did my best to do the same in high society.
The only reprieve from our difficult lives was the birth of our daughter, Claire. Of course, raising a child was difficult as well. For an idealist like me, Claire was the cold wakeup call of reality. No matter how lofty my ideals were, they meant nothing before her cries. Raising her was hard work, but Dole and I got through it by working as a team.
Oblivious to our struggles and worries, Claire grew up quickly. Dole spoiled her terribly, and I admonished him for it numerous times, but he never did stop. I wanted to spoil her myself, to tell the truth. It wasn’t fair that I was always the one stuck scolding her. I complained about this to her wet nurse, our head maid, but she replied that that was what it meant to be a mother.