The day Princess Lilinova died started differently the second time around.

She woke up in a new bed with the window open, a cool morning breeze blowing over her and the bright light of a new morning sun throwing beams across a new room, in an entirely new place.

She was living an entirely new life.

She lay in bed staring at the ceiling for longer than she would have allowed herself to a lifetime ago, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and looked out the window with helpless fondness at the gardens and the land outside.

Lili had tossed and turned all night, afraid to close her eyes in case she woke up on the day of her death back where she’d started. If fate was something set in stone, Lili was living the last few hours she had left. But there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

Well. Maybe one other place.

She dressed comfortably and went to her music room with its big windows and bright light. Her lute already looked at home on the stand by the piano. The only thing out of place…was a familiar box on her table.

She opened it almost tentatively, afraid to hope—

The lyre lay inside it in its velvet case.

Lili ran her fingers over the strings, smiled to herself as she uncovered a card.

You play it better than I could.

The note was written in a sharp but clean script. She didn’t have to wonder who it was from, warmth blooming in her chest.

Lili wanted to thank him. Not just for the instrument, but for giving her a legitimate reason to seek him out.

Now she could ask him about his plans for Tresterville and thank him for the gift.

Both felt equally important.

**

Neilsland castle was alive with activity, the staff paying her very little mind as she headed to the kitchens. She requested a breakfast item and was still surprised when the chef happily delivered a full breakfast on command, despite Lili’s low rank in the hierarchy. The staff bowed and thanked her for the opportunity to learn what she liked to eat.

She ate her breakfast in the kitchen with the servants, who, while a bit surprised, were happy to have her, if only to compliment her music and the way she had styled her hair.

Lili would be sorry to lose this new life she had. But it wasn’t just about her.

Lili went to find the Duke. She held her head high and walked with sure steps toward his office.

Amedeo cut her off before she could turn off the main hallway. He glared at her as his greeting. Lili curtsied to show him what manners looked like.

“Is the Duke in his office? I would speak to him.” She even smiled, though she was sure it didn’t reach her eyes.

“He’s busy.” Amedeo stayed between her and the hallway, creating a massive wall with his body. “Come back later. Or don’t.”

“Perhaps instead you could tell me what the Duke’s plans are for today?” Lili tried to keep her tone civil. She sounded…civil enough.

“I’m onto you,” he said instead of anything helpful, “and I will expose you to the Duke.”

Lili would have been much more terrified of that had she not already faced death.

“I’m quite certain I don’t know what you would know about me that the Duke does not.” She tilted her head at him. “Does the Duke take such an interest in me?”

She had meant it sarcastically, but Amedeo’s entire expression pinched.

“I know you’re lying to him. When the Duke finds out he won’t be so soft on you.”

Lili, who had thought she was playing it cool, scoffed to hide her thrumming anxiety.

“The Duke is no more interested in me than you are, sir.”

Amedeo took a moment to review what she’d said, and upon finding that the message was “you’re projecting your own insecurities onto your leader,” he sneered at her.

“The lady must excuse me then, as I have no appreciation for her or her instrument.”

“As I’m sure we both prefer it,” Lili shot back, feeling bold.

Amedeo nodded sharply. “Stay away from the Duke,” he warned her, “and stay away from me.”

“Gladly.” With another polite curtsy she headed for the gardens to wait until he stopped guarding his friend’s door.

There was a small orchard that Lili had earmarked to explore later and she made for it now. Luckily for her, in it were the Duke and Sybella.

But Lili stopped short before they noticed her. Sybella had the small dog she had been given the night before, holding it up for the Duke to see.

And the Duke.

He was smiling. Really smiling. With clear warmth and affection.

The Duke held out his hands for the puppy.

“What will you name”—he lifted it for a moment—“her?”

“I am open to suggestions!” Sybella pulled the puppy back in close, kissing her head.

“I have a technique to find the perfect name.”

The Duke handed the dog back and stepped away from Sybella. Sybella and the puppy watched him curiously.

“Put her in the grass.”

Sybella sat in the grass with the puppy.

“Here, Fluffy,” the Duke began, “Eevee. Beans. Sybella Jr. Cerberus. Bark-Bark. Killer.”

The puppy toddled toward him excitedly.

Sybella had been in fits of giggles by ‘Beans’ and she laughed outright as the Duke crouched down to welcome the puppy into his arms.

“Killer it is,” he chuckled, letting the dog gnaw his fingers, then casually flopped into the grass and kicked out his feet to lie back. The dog bowled over and tumbled into a patch of clover.

Sybella sat sedately nearby. “She’s not a killer! She’s more of a…Clover.”

“Killer is a perfectly good name.” The Duke cushioned his head on his hands as he laid down. “What she is more of is Flopsy.”

“Killer Flopsy” kicked her little legs helplessly and the Duke freed one hand to push her back to her feet.

“You’re getting dirt all over you,” Sybella chided and the Duke grinned.

“Why do you think I wear black every day?”

Sybella laughed and cuddled her dog, and Lili…

Lili realized there was a man under all that armor and behind all those soldiers.

There was a man who laughed, whose eyes crinkled up when he grinned, who was letting Sybella drop grass on him and flinging it back at her. A man who gave dogs stupid, appropriate names, and liked music. A man who had an entire beautiful castle and chose to be outside in the grass where he could feel the sun.

Lili stood there helplessly looking at a man who didn’t say much, but made grand gestures. She finally saw past the stoicism and the silence to the understated but genuine smile and the life flowing through every move he made.

She saw a man who had never pretentiously buttoned himself up for her and hadn’t asked her to be anything but what she already was.

She looked at the Dark Duke and thought: Oh.