Chapter 7

Three years earlier, the imperial knights had undertaken a large-scale renovation project to enhance their out-of-date training facilities.

Ryan, seventeen years old at the time, had been commander of the imperial youth knights, the large force of underage knights-in-training who hoped to graduate into the official ranks. As they could not halt their training to wait for the facilities to be completed, they had received patronage from members of the aristocracy who possessed large land holdings and allowed them to train on their grounds.

The young knights were headed for the territory of Marquis Conbroun, who had granted them use of his spacious land and treated them superbly. The issue, however, was the frequent parties he threw on his estate.

“Will you really not attend tonight’s gathering?” Marquis Conbroun said as he bowed his portly figure, looking most obsequious.

“If you would do us the honor of attending, my lord, it will be a treasured memory for my daughter.”

“I apologize, but I find myself uncomfortable in those settings,” Ryan replied curtly as he strode back to his room.

Marquis Conbroun had a lowly title compared to his wealth, and he clearly meant to bolster his prestige by inviting as many of the high nobility as he could. Although Ryan was of a position where he could refuse to attend, many of the knights in his command did not have the same privilege.

The main problem was that this particular night was the birthday of the marquis’ daughter.

“Excuse me, my lord?”

Although Ryan had refused several times already, the marquis’ men repeatedly showed up to implore him to attend, so when there was yet another knock on the door, he’d expected another man and hadn’t even bothered to reply. This time, however, he was shocked to hear the voice of the marquis’ daughter. After opening the door, she said demurely, “I’ve come up myself to ask you, as I’ve heard that you do not wish to come down...”

There was a cart full of food behind her.

“As it is my birthday, won’t you please grace us with your presence? Even if it’s only for the meal—”

“I cannot,” said Ryan, not bothering for her to finish. “Please go back to your party before anyone sees us.”

After that, he left her behind and walked out of his room entirely, looking for somewhere he could hide from the continued nuisance. He finally spotted the library—which looked as if it hadn’t been used for years—and gratefully slid inside. Residing in a drafty, desolate corner of the estate, it was the perfect place to spend a few precious hours unbothered by anyone.

Ryan lit a lamp and fell into reading, the time passing peacefully. Suddenly, there was a noise outside the windows, and he lifted his head to catch a glimpse of a figure rushing by. Thinking that it might be someone suspicious, Ryan walked to the window and peered outside. At the same time, he heard the sound of distressed, heart-piercing crying.

Who is that? A girl was sobbing as she stood under the shadows of a tree, sounding so sorrowful and desperate that it was enough for even him to want to ask her what was wrong. Ryan had never been interested in anyone else’s affairs or emotions before, but for some reason... he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

The sumptuous material of her dress told him that she was a member of the nobility, but why was someone like her crying all alone, in a far corner of a stranger’s home? He gazed at her for a long while, until her crying gradually subsided. Finally, she appeared to calm down and walked out of the shadows, and as the light of the moon shone on her pale, withdrawn face,

Ryan’s heart began pounding in his chest. He had never experienced this before—not even during the most rigorous training. She was beautiful, but it was not her beauty that caught his attention. Her face was small and delicate, and there was a glimmer in her eyes that seemed to capture the glow of the moon. She’d seemed so fragile and wretched while she cried, but now she was completely transformed.

The sobbing, wretched girl was gone, and in her place was a slim, petite woman who radiated elegance and dignity. The stunningly transformed woman strode out of the clearing and was gone in an instant, as quick as she had appeared. Although she had lingered for only a few moments, Ryan was frozen to the spot, unable to move away.

When he finally went back to his room, it was in the middle of the night. His best friend Blaine suddenly opened his door soon after he’d returned.

“Ah, what a lame party,” said Blaine, his face red and shiny from all the wine he’d consumed. “How worldly everyone was...” he said with an impish grin. “Continually bragging and boasting, one right after the other. I thought I might hurl right there on the ballroom floor.”

Thankfully, it seemed that the marquis’ daughter had concealed the fact that she’d been rejected by Ryan. Normally Ryan would barely listen to Blaine’s stories, but this time, however, he paid close attention, quickly hearing exactly what he’d been hoping for in the torrent of words that came out of his best friend’s drunken mouth.

“They also invited this young girl only to deliberately torment her. Absolutely ridiculous. Truly, the worst.”

“A young girl?”

“Yeah!” said Blaine, looking excited when he saw that Ryan was actually paying attention.

“She’s the widow of some country baron. Still in her teens, very pretty. Apparently, she inherited quite a few holdings when her husband passed away, and she was forced to attend this party. They were, quite literally, trying to intimidate her into marrying some old lord or other three times her age. It was quite disgusting...” Blaine made a face. “Seeing these lecherous old men circling her, when some of them still even have wives...”

“So what happened?”

“She refused them, prettily and politely enough, and that’s when the abuse started. Those so-called “highborn” ladies began to berate her for having married a criminal, that she dared to refuse the men now, that she didn’t know her place. She bit her lip and didn’t say anything back, but eventually, she ran out and disappeared for a while.”

So she was definitely the young woman he’d seen crying under the tree.

“Her eyes were all red when she came back, but she stayed until the very end. She seemed like a nice young woman,” Blaine mused. “I wonder why she married such a cretin. What a shame.”

Ryan took the opportunity to ask her name, looking oh-so-casual and disinterested.

Baroness Eleanor Mariche.

That was the moment when her name became forever etched in his mind.

* * *

His memories of her didn’t fade into the background once he came back to the capital. Instead, they became more vivid. He toyed with the idea of going to see her a few times, but he knew it wasn’t possible.

First off, she lived too far from the capital, and second, he would cause her unnecessary trouble if rumors started spreading of her entertaining another man, and so soon after her husband’s death. So he held her image in his mind like a shrine, and for years pondered over how to approach her.

Meanwhile, Eleanor grew famous. She came to be situated in the capital, but it had become even more difficult to approach her, as she’d transformed from a teary-eyed girl into a lively, quick-witted woman who firmly monitored society’s pulse under her delicate fingers.

He knew he was curt and rough and clueless when it came to dealing with women. He hadn’t even been able to offer a crying girl consolation, so how could he possibly speak to her now? There was simply too much distance between them. He had no possible way to casually encounter her and engage in conversation, especially when their lives did not overlap in any way. He could only gaze at her from afar.

Ryan had been halfway resigned to his fate when, like magic, she’d suddenly appeared in front of him... Right in his own study, holding his most treasured book.

I can’t miss this opportunity with her. Now that she’d willingly walked into his arms of her own accord... He couldn’t just let her go, even if he wanted to. He’d experienced the ultimate throes of pleasure with her in his arms, and his body still reveled in the lingering sensations from the night.

The real Eleanor was even more lovable than the Eleanor in his dreams, and everything about her thrilled and excited him... dangerously so. To discover that her innocent, adorable countenance hid such a sensual woman... A woman who could tie up and boldly touch a man for her own pleasure.

He didn’t dislike uncovering this side of her. Actually, it entranced him to the point of madness. He’d felt a euphoric release when her bare fingertips traced along his skin, and then followed a crazed desire to have her touch him more and more, everywhere on his body.

To his absolute delight, he’d also discovered that it was her first time with a man, despite her bold, inviting manner. He didn’t have to be jealous of any other, and now that he’d held her, he ached for her again, to the point where he wished he could crawl up under her skin.

Ryan prayed that Eleanor felt similarly about him. We lay together for hours. Won’t she have developed feelings for me too?

He’d done his best to leave a lasting impression. He’d wanted to treat her more preciously, caress her even more softly and reverently, but he’d become so stimulated during this first experience that he’d ended up finishing earlier than he wanted.

He’d made up for it over and over, though, until she had looked so exhausted that he didn’t dare begin to stimulate her again. Perhaps it had been too many times. Letting each moment play out in his mind, Ryan began growing agitated and a little desperate.

I need to see Eleanor again. What if she were disappointed in him? He should have researched her more thoroughly, thought of a better, more careful plan. I can do much better if I could just hold her again...

He could get her to come see him again, and he would do whatever it took to convince her to be with him... and always stay by his side. He was half-startled to find himself growing aroused just at the thought. This was a side of himself that he had never experienced before.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

“My lord? The tailor has arrived.”

The head butler sounded almost fearful as he announced the tailor’s arrival. His father, Duke Calabria, had stubbornly placed an order for a new suit for Ryan to wear during the upcoming birthday festival, and Ryan, who had no interest in his appearance, was irritated by his father’s constant interference.

Today, however, he got up without protest.

Thinking about Eleanor made it bearable, and perhaps it was a good thing to wear a new suit. After all, Eleanor might be suitably impressed with him if he showed up looking proper and nicely groomed.

“I’ll be out in a moment.”

Ryan recited the oath of the imperial knights several times in his head until he got his emotions back under control, then threw on a robe and opened the door. The maid’s face immediately grew pink. Looking as frightened as the butler, she cast her eyes down.

Perhaps it was due to his threat from last night.

“Good morning,” he said genially.

The maid’s mouth dropped at the warm greeting, and she looked at him in shock. He had never once said such a thing to them. Ignoring the maid, whose face had turned as red as a tomato, he turned away and walked to his dressing room.

* * *

“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” commented Blaine as they sat in the knights’ lounge.

The imperial knights trained on the palace grounds and thus had free access to the palace accommodations. Instead of the usual frosty air of hostility he wore around him, Ryan seemed softer, more affable than usual.

“Did something happen? It’s frightening to see you with a smile on your face. Everyone’s scared.”

“Are they?” Ryan said, tilting his head quizzically.

“Hmm...” said Blaine, tapping his chin. “Actually, I’m more worried about the ones who are blushing and swooning over you instead of running away.”

Ryan shrugged at his friend’s jest. It was true that some of his knights gazed at him with more... ardor... than necessary, but it was better for him to pretend that he didn’t notice.

“Blaine,” asked Ryan, “Have you been attending parties recently?”

“Well, sure,” his friend said with a shrug. “The same as usual.”

Blaine Canterbury was Ryan’s best friend, his right-hand man, and the commander of the second order of his knights. Unlike Ryan, who only knew life in the barracks, Blaine was a society man who could be found, on any given night, at one extravagant party or another thrown within the capital.

“There’s something I want to ask about... parties,” said Ryan.

Blaine thought for a moment that he’d misheard.

“Say that again?” he asked, staring wide-eyed at his friend.

Ryan gritted his teeth. “I said, there’s something I want to ask about parties.”

“You?” asked Blaine in astonishment. “You want to know about parties? Why, I won’t be surprised tonight if there’s two moons in the sky.”

Ryan ignored his friend and asked the exact question he wished to know the answer to, which left Blaine looking utterly confused.

“Ehh? Why do you want that information?”

“I need it. I’d appreciate it if you could look into it for me.”

Blaine was desperately curious to know why, but Ryan didn’t say anything more.

“Well, all right... I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.”

Ryan nodded his thanks and the two walked out of the lounge, where they promptly ran into Count Chaplin in the halls.

The count bowed low in greeting, and Ryan said, “Thank you.”

Count Chaplin looked at him in obvious confusion, but Ryan didn’t elaborate.

“For what, my lord?”

Ryan simply nodded and walked off, leaving the count and Blaine staring, puzzled, after him. Blaine was astonished to see that his friend was smiling and that his eyes were practically shining. He had seen his best friend’s face nearly every day for years, but he had never once seen Ryan with this sort of expression on his face. Had someone put some sort of spell on him? He was acting completely out of the norm.

Feeling extremely unsettled, Blaine hurried to chase after his friend’s retreating back.