It took me a moment to realize that the door had opened because of how big the man behind it was. He had pitch black hair and eyes the color of his pupil. He was wearing a red fur cape on his black formal clothing. I had already seen this outfit once when I visited the Queen with the Duke. Having recognized the uniform made me freeze.
That was different. What was he doing here? He wasn't supposed to come. I remembered clearly the first time we met. He didn't show up when I arrived and I only caught a glimpse of him during breakfast the next day. It had been the worst and longest breakfast of my entire life and he had only talked to me once to make me understand that he wasn't planning on marrying his enemy's son. What was he doing here?
Payne Grimsbane looked up at me and I couldn't help looking away. I wasn't ready to meet him again. He didn't do anything wrong yet but I already hated him with all my heart. I wanted to see him as least as possible. I didn't mind his cold and distant self at all. If that meant that I could stay away from him then it was all for the better. However the Duke didn't seem to be of the same opinion because having completely ignored the Marquis, he rushed up to me. Seeing his feet stop in front of me, I had to look up at him. Payne started looking me up and down, his mouth opening and closing again and again.
Feeling awkward, I bowed:
"I am honored to be meeting the Duke of the Empire."
Hearing no answer for a long time, I glanced up with a frown. Had I already made a mistake? He was never satisfied before. What could possibly be wrong this time? However, seeing the Duke's face made me freeze. Why did he look so... Sad?
"Your Highness?"
Hearing me made Payne flinch and he finally bowed:
"The pleasure is all mine, Mister Gnash."
The Marquis walked up to us visibly puzzled:
"We are honored to have the Duke in our humble residence. We thought that you would send a carriage for Zeidan."
Payne quickly shook his head:
"How could I let my fiancé make the journey alone?"
I frowned. What did he mean? He had no trouble letting me do the journey by myself in the past. Or the future. Anyway, my father seemed to like the Duke's answer:
"You are so thoughtful. Would you grant us the immense pleasure of sharing a meal with us before leaving?"
I almost cried. I thought that I was finally out of here and I had to spend another meal with all the people I hated most? Fate was really making fun of me at that point. Feeling the Duke's gaze made me look up. Payne immediately looked away and he didn't even bother smiling at the Marquis:
"I want to leave as soon as possible."
The Marquis' smile shook:
"I understand."
He looked so annoyed that I almost laughed. What helped me keep it together was suddenly seeing a hand being extended towards me. I was so surprised that I just stared at it. What did the Duke want me to do with his hand? He couldn't possibly be trying to escort me. He didn't want to get closer to me. Did he perhaps want me to take his glove off? I started pulling on it when the Duke suddenly pulled his hand away.
"No."
He then turned to the side and extended his arm towards me. Having suddenly realized that he did in fact want to escort me, I suddenly turned red. Of course he would want to save face in front of my family.
"Sorry."
I grabbed his arm, my cheeks flushed. Here I was meeting the Duke again and I was making a fool of myself in the first second. Nothing could have made me feel worse than hearing Payne laugh. It was my first time ever hearing that man laugh but I didn't have time to feel ashamed because of how surprised I was. Feeling me stare, Payne cleared his throat:
"Thank you for accepting my proposal."
I rolled my eyes. As if I ever wanted to accept it. Fortunately I didn't have to pretend to be happy because my father did it for me:
"We thank you for setting your eyes on our treasure."
He started pinching my cheek and I pulled away with a frown.
"We will really miss our dear Zeidan. Don't forget to write to us a lot."
Payne pulled me further away from my father visibly in a bad mood. Or maybe that was just his usual mood. It was hard telling.
"Mister Gnash will be very busy preparing for our wedding. I will take great care of him. You needn't worry."
Payne turned to me:
"Are you ready?"
I nodded. Seeing how little my bag was made Payne frown but he didn't pry anymore. Having said what he wanted, he bowed to my father:
"Then we will be on our way."
The Marquis wanted to talk to me alone before I left but it seemed the Duke was in a hurry. He must have been waiting to drop the act. My family just stood at the door and waved while the Duke was escorting me to the carriage. He opened the door for me and waited for me to accept his hand. I was about to do so when I noticed Adaranth in my field of vision:
"Ranti!"
The Duke didn't seem pleased when he said:
"Maybe you would feel more comfortable doing the journey with your friend."
I must have seemed very excited because the Duke's frown deepened. He motioned for Adaranth to walk closer and I finally accepted his hand.
"I will ride my horse. Please call for me if you need anything."
I nodded and the Duke closed the carriage door. I didn't look outside and didn't wave at my family. I closed my eyes and felt the carriage moving. We finally left for the Dukedom. I remembered the first time I did that never ending journey. The knights had to get back as soon as possible and I got so sick that I puked through the window. I felt dirty and uncomfortable. It started on a terrible note and it just got worse once I was there.
I was already mentally prepared to be sick and I even prepared a bag to puke in and a second outfit. However, I never got sick. I realized that the carriage was moving slower than in the past. It could have been because the Duke was present. But shouldn't it be the other way around? Wouldn't he want to be home as soon as possible? The knight closest to the carriage even knocked on the door multiple times to ask if I was okay. He seemed to genuinely care which was surprising. Everyone at the Dukedom hated me. It was suspicious. I had no idea what was going on but soon got an answer when we came to a stop. The Duke came to the carriage door and extended his hand towards me:
"We are stopping for the night."
When I looked out I noticed that we had stopped in front of an inn.
"Are you already tired?"
The question came out before I realized. At the beginning I had been polite and well mannered around the Duke but seeing how irritating he was, I soon came to give up on appearances. I started speaking my mind and I didn't have the energy to go back to pretending. Why should I worry about what I was saying in front of this man?
Hearing my question, the Duke seemed troubled.
"I have something to take care of here."
Did I perhaps hurt his ego? It did make much more sense however. That explained why the Duke came himself. It seemed he had something to take care of and he must have come to take me on the way. A tiny change was enough for such things to happen and I did behave differently but I didn't think it would take such proportions. I thought that fate was much more robust than this. Maybe such small changes really weren't important. At the end of the day what mattered was for the Duke and I to get married. Who cared when we got back?
I let go of the Duke's hand and turned towards Adaranth to help him get back in turn.
"Thank you Zeidan."
He suddenly looked behind me and lowered his gaze:
"I mean, Master."
I frowned and looked behind me. The Duke seemed in a very bad mood but that was just usual at that point.