The morning after the banquet arrived, and as always, Adela was there to wake me up.
"Master…" She seemed like she wanted to reproach me for something as she moved around the room.
"We already talked about this yesterday, Adela. I'm not going to marry Cassane. That wasn't why I helped her."
"Then why?" she asked, stopping for a moment.
"Why did I help you?"
She looked uncomfortable with the question and lowered her gaze.
"Exactly. So don't overthink it," I continued. "Elizabeth didn't say anything when I asked her to do what she did."
"But it's not fair…" she murmured, still turning the matter over in her mind.
I got out of bed and signaled for her to help me change.
"Tomorrow we're going back to the Academy. I want to talk to Sylvia about Elara, and I suppose I'll have to return to classes…"
"Are we going with Elizabeth to the Beaumont marquessate?" Adela asked while helping me. "And how are you going to make sure no one notices you're not here?"
"I haven't thought about that yet. I'll have to come up with some excuse, like saying I'm sick or something."
"You know that won't work. Margery will come check on you the exact second she hears that."
"I know," I sighed. "That's why I'm going to think of something else. Anyway, it will take Elizabeth a few days to reach the marquessate, while I can get there much faster."
I finished adjusting my clothes and headed toward the door.
"Come on, let's go have breakfast."
The moment I entered the dining room, I instantly regretted waking up earlier and coming here.
My sisters weren't the problem, but Eleanor definitely was.
She seemed to be in an especially bad mood that morning. She had already been acting strange since the night I decided not to listen to her reminder speech about her son being the future heir and all that, but now something else had been added to it.
When I saw Alexandro enter alongside Marquis Cedric and Cassane, I understood perfectly what it was. If anything could worsen her mood, it was the reminder that it wasn't her son who was going to marry the daughter of a marquis.
However, the serious expression on the head of the house's face didn't seem to bring good news. I won't lie—I had overheard what Elizabeth told them last night, so it wasn't a surprise to see them here.
I suppose I shouldn't have used her as an example with Adela this morning…
We all stood up to greet them according to proper etiquette. Everything indicated that it was going to be a breakfast with guests, though no one seemed to have much of an appetite.
We took our seats, and I noticed that Cassane wouldn't stop staring at me. At first, I thought it was out of guilt, assuming they had come to cancel the engagement after last night's events, but I soon realized that wasn't the case. There was something more in her gaze.
My father's serious face wasn't because the Marquis was going to break the agreement, but because he had brought a serious business matter to discuss. And money always brought out two sides in Alexandro: absolute satisfaction or extreme seriousness as he planned how to get more.
The only thing that could be heard was the two of them discussing while the rest of us maintained an awkward silence. My older sisters looked at Cassane with displeasure, while Elric seemed desperately searching for a topic to start a conversation with her.
Luckily—or perhaps not—the Marquis Cedric broke the ice by directing a question at me that took me by surprise.
"So, Cassian…" I couldn't tell if he spoke with displeasure, but he sounded hesitant when addressing me. "The engagement with my daughter has been in effect for a month or more now. Since it seems no one has any objections to it anymore, I wanted to see if the two of you could get closer."
He paused, glancing at my father before continuing.
"That's why I decided to leave this house in your father's hands. This way, whenever you're in the capital, you'll have a place to spend time together. Of course, I also expect you two to start going out more."
I didn't want to show how incredulous I felt. I had thought there was no way they would ignore the words Elizabeth had let slip out of jealousy. I composed myself and looked at the Marquis with as much calm as I could muster; it wasn't like I could question them about their decision.
"Thank you very much, father-in-law," I replied, taking the liberty of calling him that to see his reaction. "I'll try to get closer to Cassane."
A lie. There was no way I was going to do that. While I didn't hate Cassane, I also didn't think we needed any more intimacy than necessary.
Although, as you may have noticed, I don't object to having relationships with women, I always try to make sure they are either significantly older than my current body or know me well enough that it's already too late for me to start avoiding them.
Cassane not only failed both of those conditions, but in my eyes she was simply an immature little girl.
Even so, I couldn't escape my father, who forced me to accompany her to the garden for a "chat."
I felt a constant déjà vu, remembering the night we had spoken for the first time in this house.
"I thought you were going to break off the engagement after the banquet," I said bluntly.
She hesitated before answering, nervously fixing her hair.
"I know… I'm sorry. I said those words because I thought I would have to marry the Prince of Lucratis, but since that didn't happen…"
"What? Now you don't have a reason to use me as a shield anymore? Or do you still want to drag me into another one of your problems?" I said coldly, making it clear that I found her attitude selfish.
"No, it's not that. Do you really think it's so bad that we're engaged?"
"Bad or not, I don't see the point if my role is already over."
She frowned, clearly annoyed.
"You're a bastard," she blurted out.
I looked at her in surprise as she said those words and started to flee from the garden. But before leaving, she turned around:
"Remember this: next weekend you have to take me to the Nexus café. You can't refuse unless you want me to tell my father."
I stood frozen as I watched her basically order me to go on a date with her. Her face was flushed, but she had that look that wouldn't accept any objections. She turned around and finally walked away.
"Master…"
I heard that reproachful voice again. Adela appeared out of nowhere, looking at me as if I were committing the greatest of sins.
"She'll get tired, Adela. I don't know why she suddenly changed her mind, but a woman like her won't keep insisting if she sees I'm not paying attention to her."
She looked at me, not believing a single word, and turned away angrily, leaving me alone. I sighed in exhaustion. Now how was I going to manage to be in so many places at once next week? Or should I simply stand her up?
…
In Elizabeth's office.
She was calmly drinking tea when a furious Adela burst into the room. The tea spilled from the surprise, and Elizabeth looked at her with displeasure.
"Adela! You can't keep showing up like this without even warning me."
Feeling guilty, Adela apologized through gritted teeth:
"Sorry… but it seems the Master has caught another nuisance that might take up more of our time with him in the future, and I'm angry."
"Who are you talking about? Elena?"
"No. Even though that woman is interested in the Master, she doesn't have the courage to approach him. I'm talking about his fiancée. She came looking for him today and plans to continue with the engagement."
Elizabeth's face darkened upon hearing those words. She set the cup down on the table with threatening slowness.
"So… she didn't do what I told her…"