“He’s gone,” Jaspar murmured, sitting next to Maude on the couch of his study.

“He is,” she replied softly back.

Neither of them had seen Helena since her wedding, and Maude wasn’t too surprised as the couple really only had a few days together before Jakob had to leave. Maude even fully expected that it would probably be a week or two before Helena made it back to the manor and was ready to work again. Though their time as a couple had been short so far, Maude could tell that they cared about one another deeply.

Jakob, on the other hand, had stopped by and asked to see Jaspar before he had to head out to report for his duty. Maude had never seen a man as upset as Jaspar was, holding his friend in a hug goodbye.

“See you soon,” Jakob said with a lopsided smile.

“See you,” Jaspar had replied back, with what Maude could tell was a forced smile.

Maude and Jakob had just shook hands. Though she had not known him near as long as Jaspar had, it was still odd to be completely alone everywhere she went outside of her bedroom.

The look on Jaspar’s face was forlorn. “These are terrible circumstances,” he mumbled to himself.

I agree, Maude thought to herself.

“Time just seemed to move far too quickly this past week,” Maude said. “It seems to always be the case that as soon as one wants time to move faster, it slows down, and when one wants time to slow down, it speeds up.”

Jaspar sighed, looking up at the swirling pattern on the ceiling of the study. “I wish I could go back in time and end the war prior to this point,” he said. “But I’m not even sure when the empire got their hands on the thunder tubes, so even if I tried to end the war faster in a different timeline, I could actually be speeding along Aulbert’s destruction.”

He fell silent, and the lack of noise grew between them, making the air feel thick with unsaid words.

“I had never even heard of such a device in the empire,” Maude finally said.

“The emperor is pretty good about ensuring that the citizens of Ainsworth know nothing of his barbaric ways.” He ran his head through his hair. “Aulbert may not have even been the first war they used the devices in. We’ll never know.”

Maude sighed and looked up at the ceiling herself. “Have things still not been going well, even with my strategy?” she asked.

“They are still going alright,” Jaspar replied. “We’ve received no new news.”

Maude nodded. “Does the king still foresee Aulbert losing?” she asked.

He pursued his lips and nodded. “They still have more troops than us. Though we’ve gotten back to wiping out most of their soldiers in any given battle, we are still losing too many people to keep up.”

“So it’s a war of attrition still, then,” Maude replied with a sigh.

“It is,” Jaspar replied. “And even I am still not wholly convinced that we can turn around from this point.”

Maude’s heart squeezed. What will that mean for Jakob? She wondered. Or Jaspar? Will Jaspar have to leave sooner than I expect? I’m not ready for this relationship to end…and I don’t want him to die.

Maude swallowed hard. “Does that mean that you, too, will have to go to war soon?” she asked.

Please don’t let him say yes, please don’t let him say yes!

“I’m not sure,” Jaspar admitted. “I think it’s going to depend on how quickly the empire changes their strategy. I’m honestly a bit surprised they have yet to,” he said.

She nodded. “Keep me posted if my help is needed again,” she replied.

He smiled a little and nodded. “What did you think of the wedding?””

“It was beautiful,” Maude replied.

“You and Cristyne did a wonderful job for only a few days before,” he agreed. “I knew I could count on Aulbert’s best party planner.”

Maude smiled, thinking about the three days and four nights she’d spent with Cristyne planning the wedding together. She’d gotten to see an entirely different side of Cristyne. Rather than being her soft, homely self, she had been barking orders at Maude. And yet, they had pulled off something incredible in such a short amount of time.

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“She’s phenomenal,” Maude agreed. “I never would have expected to see her ordering people around like that.”

“I owe you both for putting the wedding together for Helena and Jaspar.” He reached over, gently angling Maude’s head towards his own. Her eyes met his sparkling blue ones.

He pulled her closer, and kissed her. Though Maude suspected that it hadn’t intended to be, the kiss quickly turned hot, and began to overtake both of them.

Jaspar left a trail of kisses down her neck as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

Will we do something similar when it comes time for us to part ways? Maude wondered. I would love to get married to him and live as a married couple, even if it was only a short while…

Her thoughts were getting drowned out by a panting Jaspar, who was quickly coming back towards her face for more kisses. His tongue found hers, and he explored her mouth, causing her to let out an unstoppable moan.

I don’t know that I’ll ever get tired of this man, she thought.

He gently pulled the bodice of her dress down a bit, and began kissing the tops of her breasts. She gasped in pleasure.

“Jaspar,” she murmured softly. He didn’t respond, instead, continuing to tease her. “Jaspar,” she said again.

“Hmm?” she heard him mumble against her skin.

“Do you want to do something similar to what Helena and Jakob did if we have to part ways?” she asked.

He stopped kissing her, and looked up at her face. He slowly sat backwards, away from her. “Why?” he asked. Maude wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed as though her question had annoyed him.

Fuck, she thought. Every time we’ve been alone lately, all we do is fight. This goddamn war is driving a wedge between us. I’m so envious of Helena…how were she and Jakob able to grow closer despite it?

“Well, I guess,” she picked at her nails, not really sure what to say. “I guess similar to their reasoning,” she continued, stumbling through her words. “It would give us the opportunity to live as a married couple, even if it was only for a few days.”

Jaspar sighed, and Maude could definitely tell now that he was frustrated with her question. “How deeply did you think this question through?” he asked her.

Maude swallowed hard, feeling a pang in her heart. “Not very deep,” she replied, honestly.

“What if Aulbert ends the war winning, and I don’t die?” he asked her, crossing his arms over his stomach. “Then what?”

“I could come back to Aulbert and we could live a happy life together,” Maude replied, feeling a smile tickle her lips. “That would be a best case scenario.”

Jaspar sighed again, and ran his hand through his hair. “That would be the worst case scenario, actually,” Jaspar responded.

“What?” Maude asked, feeling her heart sink in her chest. “Why?”

“By choosing to not fight in the war, you are forfeiting the opportunity to become a citizen of Aulbert,” Jaspar replied sternly. “The king is not the type of person to give people a second chance, especially ones that refuse to help during the country’s hour of need.” He paused for a moment, and seemed to be studying her face. “By not fighting, you will never be able to become a citizen of Aulbert.”

Maude felt her mouth fall agape. “Why am I only just now hearing of this?” she asked. “Why didn’t you or the king tell me this before?”

Jaspar breathed heavily. “I probably should have said something, you are right,” he said. “I assumed that you would know something like that because it’s pretty basic information. But I often forget that you were not given a proper education because you’re so successful now.”

Maude felt her hands clenched into fists. “So marrying me and Aulbert winning is the worst case scenario because I’ll never be able to be a citizen of Aulbert if I don’t fight,” she stated in a monotone voice.

“Correct,” Jaspar said. “So it’s not about you, a lack of love for you, or anything like that. It’s that I would have to have an affair to continue the Rosenberg lineage, and have an illegitimate heir to the Rosenberg estate. And I don’t want that. I don’t want a child I bring into this world to go through similar hardships that I had to. I want to be able to train the successor so that I can rest assured that the people of Rosenberg are in good hands.” He paused and looked over at Maude. Her jaw was trembling. He sighed. “Please try to see this from my perspective,” he said. “I love you, Maude, I really do. But I also need to protect the people whose lives depend on how the duke of the estate acts.”

“So you manipulated me into a dead end relationship?” Maude accused Jaspar, her voice sounding as watery as her face was.

Jaspar sighed, leaning forward, staring off into the distance. “If you recall, Maude, I specifically told you multiple times that I did not intend to start a relationship with you until I had found a way for the two of us to be together long term.” He turned and looked at her, and she could tell from the look on his face that he was angry. “If you recall, you were the one who started this relationship.”

“It was a mutual effort,” Maude argued, her voice crackling a bit. “You also told me that you would do your best to find a way to be with me, come what may,” she accused him.

“Have I not done that?” he asked, his voice sounding frustrated, as he sat up and angrily opened his arms wide. “I did everything I could to convince the king to choose anything else for you to do besides fight in the war. I even introduced you to my dear friend Erich in hopes that he might be able to convince his father on your behalf as well.” He sighed, frustratedly. “I’ve done everything I could to help you become a citizen of Aulbert without having to fight in the war. The cards have been stacked against us from the get go,” he said. “It’s not because I don’t want to.”

Maude didn’t have a retort for his words. “I thought you meant no matter what we would make it work,” she said.

I need to leave, she thought. I can’t deal with this right now.

“There has to be another way we could be together,” she said, standing up off the couch. “There has to be.” She turned away from Jaspar and started walking across the room to the door.

I have to get out of here! Her voice in her mind screamed. I can’t do this!

Maude’s hand touched the door handle. She very clearly heard Jaspar say, “There’s not,” right before she exited.