He just came out of a fitting for a new black attire to wear to the funeral when one of his attendants approached with a letter for him.

He took it and thanked the young man, tucking it under his coat.

It was nigh evening. The skies were overcast with gray clouds that hinted of a heavy rain. He welcomed the rain, if anything. There had been too much sunshine in the past days.

If his instructions were being followed, Lady Stenly would already be on her way to the Malrick mansion.

And he should be on his way as well.

Yeren had cleared every single important parchment out of his study. Even his poems had been taken.

And he had hidden them in the one place no one would ever dare to look.

Behind the removable stones in his hearth. He had removed the stones himself and stacked the letters inside the crevices. Then he sealed them back.

His hands had been covered with soot by the time he was done.

And no one knew about it.

He sat down at the table in his room and carefully unfolded the letter.

It was from her guard’s squire. The man was very accountable for his charge, Yeren mused.

And he liked that trait about him.

He leaned back against his chair and held the parchment close to the lit candle.

’Your Grace,

I write to inform you of the events that occured today that I feel you should be knowledgeable about.’

He rolled his eyes intending to skip the introduction until the next line caught his attention.

’Lady Stenly and her sister were going to the dressmaker’s in town to purchase a dress to wear to the upcoming ball when she asked for the carriage to be stopped. Then she ran out of it and chased a dark haired woman down to a farm where I found both of them sprawled on the grass.

As I listened to their discussion, I discovered that the woman in question is the maid she claimed served her a meal during the night before her sudden illness.’

Illness? What a nice way to frame it, Yeren mused.

’The woman did not deny the charge but rather confessed to having done it. She claimed an unknown man gave her coin to sabotage Lady Stenly’s meal at night when the cooks were out at the bonfire.

Afterwards, Lady Stenly made her lead us to her house where she discovered the bag of coin the woman had spoken of. But after seeing the woman’s ill children, she left the woman alone and turned away.

Not much happened after that. I only felt you should know.’

And the letter came to a close.

Yeren blinked and reread the lines. He was certain more happened after that, the man just didn’t think it wise to put it into writing.

It didn’t slip that the man was trying to clear the enmity between them by letting him know what transpired behind her back.

She let the woman go...

He knew she must have been heartbroken... or at least furious - he was furious.

So she had been telling the truth all along.

The thought that his guard might have been lying brushed by him, but he knew that his men had sworn an unbreakable oath to him. Their loyalty was to him first.

She hadn’t done it.

And he had believed she had.

Yet she wasn’t desperate to punish the culprit for doing it because of her compassion.

She was a better person than he was. She had been right all along - he was too blind and conceited to see past his own grief.

Yeren suddenly dreaded attending the funeral.

Why had he even insisted she be invited? Because he wanted to see her?

But if he treated her differently or apologized, she would know that he had found out about the occurrence of the previous day somehow.

And she would be furious, furious enough to try and avoid the guards he had sent to see to her safety.

He rubbed his hand over his face and cursed under his breath.

Someone else was responsible for this.

Whoever it was, he vowed, would regret harming his child.

And the woman he cared about.

What a fool he had been.

He pounded his fist into the table. That must have been the expected outcome... to drive a wedge between them.

And he had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

His mood was sour as he dressed in his travel breeches and a leather coat and headed down to the awaiting carriage.

The Malrick residence was not far from the castle, so he would be there before it got dark.

He had taken the letter with him, just in case he needed to read it again for confirmation.

Yeren prayed deep in his heart that she had already gotten there. He didn’t want to run into her.

The sky was drowned in pink and gold hues as the sun disappeared along the horizon.

But he saw no beauty in it.

His mouth was bitter with dread. He wouldn’t be able to look her dead in the eyes after everything he had said the last time they had spoken.

Which was why he planned to just avoid her. And he knew she would avoid him as well, even if the thought hurt more than he wanted to admit.

The road to the Malrick manor was a smooth and well travelled one so they expressed little to no hitches during the ride.

By the time they arrived, he was dying to go inside and have some wine. Malrick kept some of the best wines in the Kingdom in his cellar.

However, as he stepped down from his carriage, another carriage was just rolling in.

It stopped right beside his and one of his guards whom he recognised dismounted from his stallion and ran around to open the door for the person.

Something in his abdomen twisted.

From the banner of the red wolf hanging by the side of the carriage, he already knew who was inside.

So she hadn’t bothered to replace the banner?

He made to move inside but his feet betrayed him. They remained firmly rooted to the spot. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She emerged from the carriage and flashed her driver a dazzling smile.

She never smiled at him that way.

Even in the dim light, he could see that she was wearing a dark blue dress with a woolen shawl draped over her shoulders. Her hair was pinned up at the back of her head in a way that accentuated the beauty of her neck.

Yeren barely paid any heed to the passing guests that greeted him.

His eyes were fixed solely on hers.

Then she turned towards his direction.

And their eyes locked.