Lucille almost sighed in relief and slouched her shoulders when Luciano finally disappeared. That earned her a concerned look from her friend, so she hurried to speak up before the other woman did. “It's fine, Fiona. I was just a bit tense. But now it's better again because he's gone. I know that I shouldn't be so worried, but I couldn't help it.”

Fiona didn't look like she was convinced. Still, she nodded and let her friend change the topic. “About that ornament... Are you going to buy it? It looks really good.”

Lucille paused for a moment and inwardly sighed again. She knew that her friend would argue about this with her. “It's too expensive.”

As expected, Fiona immediately refuted that. “What do you mean, Luci? You have the money. Your father told you to buy what you like. You should treat yourself this once.”

“But this is ridiculously expensive. I'm serious. I won't use three months of my allowance to buy one hair ornament.” Maybe a duke's daughter didn't think much about that, but Lucille had a general understanding of what commoners earned. That was enough to make her reluctant to throw this much money out of the window just because she liked some hair clip. Maybe she could find something just as beautiful for less money?

Fiona pouted and glanced at the jewelry stand before lifting her chin. “But you never buy yourself anything. Don't just give up on this when you really want it. I can give you some money too. Or...” She crossed her arms, and a smile spread on her face. “I could buy it for your birthday.”

Lucille knew well that her friend wouldn't become poor because of such an investment, but she still refused whenever Fiona offered to buy something for her. It had happened often enough. So, she also recognized that determined glimmer in her friend's eyes. Complaints were useless. Still, she tried it, only to be cut off immediately. “I don't-”

Fiona turned her head to the side. “You can't stop me. If you don't buy it, I will. And then I can do whatever I want with it. Make your decision now.” She paused and looked toward her friend again as her expression softened. “Luci, this is the first time that you ever were this interested in a piece of jewelry. Don't keep yourself from enjoying things. It would be a shame if you keep saving up money, only to let it rot somewhere. It would be better for you to finally start getting what you want, at least this once. What else are you going to do with so much money?”

Lucille knew that she had already lost as soon as Fiona had seen that hair clip. No matter what, that piece of jewelry would be sold today, and it would end up in Lucille's possession one way or another. In that case, she would rather pay herself instead of making her friend buy it. She lifted her arm with resignation and waited for one of the vendors to come.

It only took a few seconds, and then a young woman with a simple business costume and a flawless smile approached them. “Good afternoon, dear client. What can I be of service with?”

Lucille gestured to the ornament and explained that she wanted to buy it. Then she waited for the woman to get a key to open the jewelry stand. When she tried the hair clasp on, she inwardly had to admit that she was a bit happy that she had given in. After all, the ornament was really pretty and maybe one of the most gorgeous items that she had ever seen. It would be a shame if she ended up not being able to wear it because of her desire not to be too flashy in public. She wouldn't ponder this now though. She would just buy it and wear it at home if she was too nervous.

So, Lucille let the vendor bring the box to the counter and followed her to process the purchase. As she stood in front of the register, she felt guilty again and considered not buying it after all. But it should be fine as long as she didn't get anything during the next few visits, right? She told herself that while waiting for the vendor to ask for her signature.

But it seemed like this would take a moment longer.

The vendor smiled at her before disappearing into the room behind the counter. She stayed there for a minute or so before coming back with an even brighter smile. “I sincerely apologize for letting you wait, but I have wonderful news. It seems that you are the thousandth client this year. You will receive a discount, Young Lady.”

That made no sense. How were these people counting their guests? Did they draw a line for every purchase on a piece of paper? And why would they only mention the discount at the counter instead of luring people in with it? This was too suspicious.

Lucille almost considered denying the discount, but paying a little less couldn't hurt. “How much is it then?” If she was lucky, she might save three hundred gold coins or so.

The other woman beamed at her. “This is a very special discount. This item is only half of the original price now.” That was way too generous. There had to be something unpleasant connected to this. Lucille's skepticism had to have been obvious since the vendor hurried to continue. “Of course, there isn't a requirement. You do not need to sign a special contract nor will we try to sell you something else. You will only need to pay three thousand gold coins for this item. It is a great deal for you.”

This made even less sense. Why hadn't the store advertised this discount? They might have earned much more money with that.

But now Lucille would just buy one item, which she would have taken anyway, so that the store lost money. If she was a bit more confident, she might have pointed out that this was a terrible way to run a business. Of course, she just stayed quiet though. She read the check with extra care and made sure that nothing was wrong multiple times before she finally signed.

With that, she left and took the box with her after making sure that the ornament couldn't be harmed during the transport. The women then exited the store while Luciano waved toward them.

Lucille waved back, even though she was a bit embarrassed, and then gladly sat down in the carriage. She just wanted to close the door behind her, and then no one would see her worried expression anymore, but that wouldn't help her consciousness. She still felt bad about buying something so expensive. And the discount just made it worse.

As soon as they reached the carriage, Fiona spoke up. “Luci, did you notice that?”

Lucille had no idea what her friend meant. “What?”

“Duke Vasquez told that woman to give you a discount. I saw how he came out from the room behind the counter after you purchased it.” Fiona's eyes twinkled as she said that. “He heard that you didn't want to spend that much money and immediately intervened. He must like you!”

Lucille pressed her lips into a line and held back a dejected reply. She loved romance novels, and she knew that Fiona liked them too. If she was the heroine in such a book, the male lead might have fallen for her in an instant. But this wasn't a book. “Definitely not. This is how you run a business, Fiona. You lure in reluctant customers with things like this to make them buy something else next time. You shouldn't confuse that with personal emotions.”

Fiona pouted at that and looked at her friend as if she really considered the option she talked about to be true. “But maybe he does like you a little. I mean... I didn't get a discount. But you said that you didn't want to spend so much money, and he immediately reduced your expenses by half. That makes it seem like he cares about your well-being at least. He wanted to make you smile, and you didn't even give him that. We can't be sure, but if he really likes you, you can use that to your advantage. Being friends with a duke is beneficial. And maybe it could go even farther than that. It would be extremely convenient if you two really got to like each other a lot. You know why.”

Of course, it would be extremely convenient if Lucille liked the man whom her father wanted her to marry. But that was just a dream. Lucille knew that things wouldn't work out like this. She didn't want to become someone's wife just because of their status. She had expected this for all of her life, but she was still reluctant. Surely, it would be good if her marriage was accompanied by pleasant feelings, but there was no way that love would develop here.

Lucille was certain that she could fall in love if she spent enough time with someone. But she doubted that Luciano, who could probably have most of the young unmarried women in the capital, would ever like her. And one-sided feelings might be worse than no one being in love at all. “This isn't a romance novel. I doubt that I will ever find my happily ever after in such a romantic way. It would be nice, but don't count on it. Besides, I have a lot of other things on my mind right now.”

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Fiona was silent for a short moment before she opened her mouth. “Duke Vasquez would probably be a better choice than His Royal Highness, you know. I worry, Lucille.”

Lucille froze at that. What was this supposed to mean? She attempted to answer but cut herself off. She was quiet for a few seconds before replying. “What? Why are you suddenly saying that?”

She didn't receive an answer.

But to be honest, she already guessed it herself. Lucille's first reaction to this comment had been wanting to say that she liked Cedar much more than Luciano.

This might become a huge problem.

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When the carriage reached the Valerian estate, Lucille climbed out and bid farewell to her friend. She was still lost in thoughts but quickly hurried inside. She brought the jewelry box to her room and then prepared to go to the annex to eat dinner, but she froze in the doorway and turned around again.

Now she could put the ornament on, right? If she had bought it already, she might as well wear it. Just because she liked it. Not because she wanted to show it to anyone or something like that.

Lucille bargained with herself for a moment before swiftly putting it into her hair. Of course, she didn't just go out like that though. She stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes before she was content with the position. Even then, she still considered taking it out and going without it. She was already embarrassed, even though nothing had happened yet, which made her even more uncertain.

In the end, Lucille forced herself to leave the clasp in her hair and walked over to the annex. When she arrived, food hadn't been prepared yet, but Cedar was already waiting for her.

The prince opened the door for her after she knocked and gave her his typical bright smile. “Welcome back. How was your trip?”

Lucille's mood immediately lightened again after seeing that. The prince always seemed to calm her down. “It was fine. Nothing much happened.” She came into the room and sat down at the table before waiting for him to join her. She only remembered the crucial detail about her trip after a few seconds passed. “Ah, wait. One thing did happen. We met a group of royal guards. Apparently, they are still searching the area for you. They even stopped the carriage and looked inside before letting us pass. That was directly next to our estate, so...”

Cedar let out a quiet sigh and put his cup back onto the table. “I should have expected that. After all, they last found a trace of me in a house just a few minutes away. I fought against the knight there. After that, I dragged myself into a carriage and jumped out here. I certainly left some blood on the road next to your house too. They probably know that I'm in the area since no witnesses have seen me elsewhere ever since I disappeared. But luckily, they seem to doubt that I could have climbed in my wounded state, or they would have focused on this estate much earlier. ”

Lucille nodded slowly and thanked him for the cup of tea, which he pushed toward her. She took a sip and tried to distract herself from her foolish thoughts. Why had she even put the ornament on? Had she expected Cedar to notice it? How stupid. They weren't really close, so he probably didn't care much about what she was wearing. “It's good that they didn't think about coming here again. It would be problematic if we needed to hide you every few days.”

Cedar gave a little affirmation before taking a sip of his tea.

After that, a short silence followed.

Lucille tightened her hold on her cup and swallowed her illogical disappointment. She should just tell him something about her day to distract herself. “Well, the guards left us alone after they saw that there was no one with us. We went to a jeweler's store in the capital then. Apparently, it belongs to your cousin. We accidentally met him there and chatted for a bit, but nothing aside from that happened.”

Cedar perked up at that. “You met Luciano? How was he doing? I didn't see him for a while.” If he addressed the other man by his first name, their relationship seemed to be good.

“Are you close?” Lucille regretted asking that immediately. What if she had touched upon a serious topic just now? She hadn't wanted to pry into his personal matters. But before she could apologize, she already received a response.

The prince shrugged and replied in a calm voice. “Somewhat. Our mothers used to push us together. My aunt because she wanted us to be friends and my mother because she wanted to plot with the former duke. So, Luciano and I spent a lot of time in our childhood together. We don't really cling to each other, but we think similarly in a lot of matters. There were some troubles with the former duke since Luciano tended to listen to him blindly though. Anyway, I don't necessarily trust Luciano, but I do trust him a bit more than many others. Now that his father is dead, I think that you can drop the caution around him too. He should be a person I can talk with. After I'm officially allowed to leave confinement, that is. And if he even wants to talk to me anymore.”

Lucille wanted to hold back, but her curiosity was too big for her to keep quiet. She scanned the prince's expression for a moment before carefully asking him. “If you do not want to answer, please tell me. I know that this is none of my business, but why wouldn't he talk to you?”

Cedar gave her a bright smile. “I don't mind telling you. Theoretically, it's not my fault, but my mother kind of murdered his father. Claude Vasquez would have been put in prison and executed in a few years anyway due to him committing treason and many other crimes. But my mother was worried about him revealing something sensitive about her and made sure to kill him when he left his cell one time. She burned down half of the Vasquez mansion. Claude was killed, and his corpse burned. Luciano and his mother and younger sister could have been unlucky too, but thankfully, they were outside. Still, all of that left scars on them. I'd understand it if he didn't want to see me right now.”

So, it had really been the dowager empress' fault. There had been countless rumors about her wanting to get rid of her most trusted underling.

That had been the case because Claude had messed up and been convicted of so many crimes that his whole family could have been exterminated. But the emperor had been generous and given the only son of the household, Luciano, a chance to take over the position of the duke. From then on, the Vasquez family had been a member of the emperor's faction and supported him despite previously being on the dowager empress' side.

That had caused Camille Estien to hate that family even though her sister, Selena Vasquez, was the duchess. She had really attacked the dukedom despite their close relation. This didn't make it Cedar's fault though.

Lucille dug her fingers into the cup as she spoke up. “But His Grace shouldn't blame you for any of that. When your mother was the one that did it, you aren't at fault.”

Cedar let out a small chuckle at that. “If you approach it logically, maybe. But his father died, and the rest of his family was in grave danger. Don't you think that he would be a bit biased? And aside from that, you also can't just accept what I say as fact. You have no way of knowing whether I was involved too, you know? I could just make myself out to be the victim when I'm really the one that planned all of this.”

Lucille replied without hesitation. “That's not true. You might not notice, but the way you speak gives away how you think about some things.” Not really, but she felt like she could catch a glimpse of his true emotions when his protective wall crumbled a bit. “You don't like what your mother does. So, you would never be the one who proposed something like this. She might have forced you to give her advice, but you definitely never plotted against the people around you of your own free will.” Maybe she had spoken with too much confidence.

Cedar looked at her as if she had grown wings. For a moment, she thought she had said something wrong, but then he began laughing. He definitely had no idea how beautiful he was while doing that, even if his laughing didn't necessarily seem honest. He also didn't notice how Lucille stared at him for the next few seconds until he stopped to speak up. “You truly are too trusting. Maybe you should be a bit more careful around other people. I can guarantee that not many think that I am nice. I think I've never heard anyone saying something like that to me.” He paused before making eye contact with her again, still with amusement flickering in his eyes. “Where were we? Yes, you mentioned meeting Luciano. Do you not like him? It sounded like you weren't too happy about seeing him. Isn't he quite famous with most people? He tends to be quite social.”

Lucille had no idea why he changed the topic so quickly. She obliged though. At first, she considered lying, but then she just decided to tell the truth. “I mean...he's polite, I think. But I can't really relax around him. I told you that my father sometimes gave me strange missions, didn't I? This time, it was the worst of all times. On the day that you came here, my father said that he wanted me to marry His Grace. Because he is the most powerful bachelor who isn't a member of the royal family, you know? And obviously, I wasn't too happy about that. After all, I can't just approach a duke. He could ruin my reputation with just a few words. So, speaking to His Grace put me under a lot of pressure.”

Cedar didn't seem surprised to hear that. “I see. But there is no need to worry about this at all, is there? Now that whole engagement thing shouldn't be much of a problem for the next few months. After all, your father thinks that you are in a relationship with an even more influential bachelor.” He gave her a smile that made her heart skip a beat. “If there are any issues regarding this, tell me, and I will take care of it. But enough about unpleasant matters. Let's focus on the nice things in life. It's really beautiful.” He paused for a moment to let her stare at him in confusion before he continued. “I'm referring to the ornament in your hair. It seems to have been made by a skillful artist.”

Lucille's eyes widened, and she quickly hid her joy. He had noticed. “I think so too. It was the first time that I ever bought something expensive like this. It was just very pretty, so I couldn't help it. I regretted it a bit, but I feel like it was worth it. I will make up for it by holding back next time, but for now, I am glad that I was a bit more generous.” She realized that she was blabbering, but she couldn't stop herself.

Thankfully, Cedar didn't look annoyed. He just smiled at her. “It fits you. Your attire itself is stunning too. Everything matches the person that is wearing it. You chose it well.” Had he phrased it like this on purpose? If the ornament was beautiful and the person that wore it too, didn't that mean that he had complimented her?

Lucille tried to remind herself that this was just how young ladies were treated in noble society, but her cheeks were already flushed red. She barely managed to calm herself and quickly averted her gaze as she mumbled a response. “Thank you.” Why did she react so sensitively? This was stupid.

He definitely had just said that because he was used to charming women. A member of the royal family had to be charismatic after all. Cedar dealt out compliments as if they didn't mean much. Just because he had called her pretty, that didn't mean anything.

She knew that. But when he said things like that with a breathtaking smile, she might momentarily forget.