Some days later, the duke was in his study, reviewing a letter he had received from the imperial palace. “His Majesty was truly not jesting when he put forth that suggestion.” He massaged his temples and shook his head. “Veit.”

“Yes, my lord?” A cleanly-dressed person responded to him calmly.

“What would you do, in my situation? Would you accept the offer of proposal from the princess?”

“With all due respect, my lord, I do not think it wise for me to offer my own opinion,” Veit calmly expressed. “This is a matter of your relationships, not mine.”

“Veit, I did not hire you as my aide so that you could refuse to give me advice. You are wise, and without your help, I doubt I would have returned from the war intact.” The duke touched his left arm absentmindedly. “I value your input, so please give it to me.”

“It is an honor that you think so highly of me, my lord, but all that I can offer to you is an overview of the situation. I cannot make your decision for you.” Veit sighed. “From what you have told me, the princess agrees that the two of you should not be wed. However, if that was truly what she believed, she would have told the emperor and he would not have said another word on the matter. When you last spoke, are you certain that she said she would speak to the emperor about not becoming engaged?”

“I believed that was the case, but you are right. The fact that I have received the proposal offer from the emperor would suggest that she did not speak to him, or that she did not speak to him about what we discussed. Did I misunderstand, or did she change her mind? And if she changed her mind, did she change her mind on her own, or did the emperor convince her that I was her best option?” Osmar bit his thumbnail as he thought.

“My lord, you may be thinking too much about it. Perhaps, at this point, it may be best to accept the engagement? If you are engaged to Princess Adela, then you will have a pretense for seeing her more frequently to convince her that you are not suited for one another. Another option might be to embroil yourself in a scandal so that the imperial family will no longer think you are worthy of wedding their blood.”

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“Veit, do you think the emperor will let go of this idea if I tell him honestly that I do not wish to marry his daughter?”

Veit hesitated. “My lord, I cannot say for certain. Many know of how the emperor dotes on his children, and the princess even receives special attention as the youngest and his only daughter. If there is something or someone that she wants, His Majesty would move the celestial bodies to grant it to her.”

“I finally get back from that godforsaken war that my stepmother sent me to fight and now I have to deal with this. Veit, should I just pass along the title and estate to my younger brother and be done with it? The princess would not want to marry me if I were not a duke, right?”

“You are still a famous figure and a war hero. His Majesty might even offer you a dukedom as part of the princess’ dowry if you were to pass along your title. Do not forget what he did for Lady Emelina. You know that she was engaged to Prince Linden since they were both young, but her family accumulated a sizeable amount of debt due to her father’s gambling addiction. As news of the scandal passed through high society, many believed that she would be abandoned and that Prince Linden would have to find a new partner. Instead of abandoning her, though, the emperor personally paid off her family’s debts and declared that her engagement with the prince would not be broken. Do you know why that was?”

“The imperial family is loyal to those who offer loyalty in return. Of course His Majesty would not break the engagement of many years for that reason.”

“On the contrary, my lord, it is because Prince Linden appealed to the emperor. That is the reason why the imperial family went to the trouble of protecting a girl surrounded by scandal, and why, three weeks from now, Prince Linden will marry Lady Emelina, not the daughter of some other noble family.”

“This is the first I’m hearing about this.”

“You’ve been at war.”

“You were there with me.”

“My lord asked me to collect information on things that happened while we were away, and that is what I did. If I know more about such things than you, is it not a reflection of my capabilities?”

“This is true.” Osmar sighed again. “Is there truly nothing I can do apart from accept the engagement proposal and try to convince the princess?”

“It is your decision, my lord. You may refuse, but I doubt the emperor and princess will accept your refusal so easily.”

Osmar fidgeted with the proposal letter in his hands as he contemplated things. “Veit, this is why I value your advice. I suppose I have little choice but to become engaged to the princess.”