Chapter 82: Shadows and Swooning
Chapter 81: Shadows and Swooning
Lyria’s POV
I lowered my head at once, schooling my expression into something suitably meek.
"I b-beg your pardon, Your Highness," I said, my tone careful and measured. "But I fear I-I still do not understand. The notion that I would attempt t-to... seduce a suitor who has come to the palace e-expressly for you seems rather m-misplaced."
Jacinta’s gaze lingered on me, sharp and assessing, as though she were attempting to peel back the layers of my words and find something hidden beneath them.
Before she could respond, the door opened.
Kyia stepped in first, followed closely by the maids who carried trays laden with breakfast—silver covers gleaming softly beneath the morning light.
The scent of freshly baked bread and steeped tea filled the chamber almost immediately, but it seemed Jacinta wasn’t particularly interested in the food.
Her attention snapped to Kyia immediately.
"Who permitted you entry?"
Kyia froze.
Colour rushed to her cheeks at once as she dropped into a deep bow.
"Your Highness, I come at this hour every morning—"
"You come later than this," Jacinta said. She reached behind her, picked up the nearest pillow, and threw it.
It hit Kyia squarely in the shoulder.
One of the maids behind her flinched from the action. I was almost compelled to tell the maid to relax—that was the least angry I had ever seen Jacinta. Normally, she threw vases that actually did harm to people.
Kyia straightened, the red in her face deepening, and bowed again.
"I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness," she said again, her head still bowed. "I had thought... that perhaps you would wish to prepare earlier today, given the dates with the candidates."
Jacinta said nothing.
Kyia pressed on, her voice filled with practiced warmth.
"And I thought," she continued, "that since Your Highness was so taken with Baron Redwick yesterday, Your Highness might wish to take extra time—to dress well, to make an impression."
Jacinta’s nose scrunched faintly in distaste at first, as though the suggestion had offended her.
I watched her face from beneath my lowered gaze.
Then something shifted.
The scrunched nose smoothed. The eyes softened slightly. And a smile spread across Jacinta’s face that was entirely different from the one she had been wearing a moment ago.
"Ah," she said lightly, leaning back against the cushions. "So you do know me well."
Kyia bowed.
"I am only doing my work, Your Highness."
Jacinta’s smile lingered a moment longer.
Then she turned back to me.
The smile did not disappear entirely, but it changed quality—cooled at the edges, sharpened just slightly.
"And as for you," she said, her tone sharpening once more, "do not imagine that your little... attempt has gone unnoticed."
I said nothing.
"Even if you did attempt to turn the Baron’s eye," she said, "it does not matter. He wants me. I am the one he will be spending time with today. I am the one going on a date with him." She tilted her head. "And you?"
She let the pause sit.
"You will watch from the shadows, as you always do." Her voice was light, almost pleasant. "Because that is all you are. A shadow. My shadow."
Again?
If I heard that particular comparison one more time, I suspected I might begin to applaud it out of sheer irritation.
A shadow.
Always a shadow.
It was beginning to lose its intended sting.
Not that I would ever say so aloud.
And truly, I had no desire to compete for the affections of any of the suitors. That particular game held no appeal for me. Jacinta, however, seemed quite convinced otherwise.
She rose abruptly from the bed, her earlier irritation forgotten entirely.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, placing a hand lightly against her chest as though overcome. "I must say, I did not expect it."
Cue the theatrics.
"Baron Redwick," Jacinta said, with the tone of someone making an announcement. "I never expected him to be so—" She paused, searching for the word.
She apparently found several.
"His hair," she said. "The way it sits. The colour. It complements his face entirely." She shook her head slightly, as though the memory of it was almost too much. "And I have never been one for spectacles. I always thought them rather plain on a man."
She paused.
"But on him," she said in delight, "I could see myself not minding them at all."
The maids moved at once, beginning to assist her in undressing.
Kyia nodded with great enthusiasm.
"He is very handsome, Your Highness."
"And the way he speaks." Jacinta pressed her fingers lightly to her lips. "No wonder he is a scholar. Everything he says is so—" Another pause. "Intelligent. Utterly perfect."
I kept my eyes down and my expression where it was.
I couldn’t argue with that—the Baron was the most perfect out of all the suitor candidates, after all. But I wasn’t going to say any of this, lest I get accused of attempting to turn his head again.
"Yes, Your Highness. The Baron is most impressive," Kyia said.
There was a brief pause. Then Kyia added, almost as an afterthought—
"And Duke Aurelgrave as well."
I turned my head slightly at that.
There had been something in Kyia’s voice when she said it—an undertone of affection, I might add. Something that wasn’t entirely professional.
I looked at her.
Her cheeks had taken on a faint colour that had nothing to do with being hit by a pillow.
I turned to Jacinta.
Jacinta was already being undressed by the maids, her attention on the gowns being brought forward for her consideration, her mind apparently fully occupied with the question of which one would make the best impression on a scholar with green hair and thin-framed spectacles.
She had not noticed.
Or if she had, she was not interested.
Could it be that the maid who was held in high esteem by the princess had a crush on Lucian?
Hmm... quite interesting.
And I was the one being accused of having an eye on the candidate instead.
