‘I will call upon you again.’ I

said as I kissed the back of Lady Fredericka’s hand and left the Castley home.

As soon as I boarded the carriage I

loosened my tie and top b.u.t.ton, and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief,

‘Ah~…I was so nervous.’ I said to

Xavier.

I had been more nervous in that

drawing room that I had ever been on the battlefield. I had thought she would

have shouted at me, looked at me with eyes full of disdain like she was looking

at a disgusting bug. I thought I would be killed.

‘Lady Fredericka was rather

adorable, and she’s lovely too.’ I said to Zazie.

Xavier had been forced to come with

me just in case I ended up being accused of indecency of some sort. Freed from

a potentially tense situation, I was a bit more relaxed, therefore more

loquacious than usual.

‘She was acting. Didn’t you

notice?’ Xavier replied. (Zuben: Dude stop ruining it) Xavier looked as though

he was shocked, ‘Maybe because of you, Young Master?’

I didn’t like his expression.

I sat up in shock, ‘Acting? That

loveliness?’

My body sagged. How come?

‘She had no choice but to act that

way. Young master looked like you were headed for the guillotine, so she

quickly conveyed her grat.i.tude. Apologising first was intentional. See how

relieved she was when you calmed down? Under normal circ.u.mstances, who would

admit that their lace underwear tore and fell off?’

Xavier’s insight! I cleared my

throat and made myself more comfortable in the carriage.

‘She was blus.h.i.+ng from her ears

down to her neck. Although it didn’t show on her face, Lady Fredericka was

embarra.s.sed. She is still young. She could not fully hide her shyness.’ He

added with an evil sounding chuckle.

Xavier is a bad guy, I thought.

‘Hey? How did you notice that?’

‘Her hair was up.’

Indeed, Lady Fredericka’s hair had

been styled prettily into a loose knot off to the side. I am glad I didn’t

notice or I would not have been able to concentrate.

‘What kind of a cad would abandon

such a beautiful lady? Doesn’t he have eyes in his head? Why did her love

affair end so sadly?’

I sighed.

‘If you think you do not want to

hand her to another, don’t worry.’ Xavier said.

I was struck by Xavier’s words. Truly,

I did not want to let her meet another man. But she is a young lady and she has

just had her fiancé break their engagement. She would be hurt.

She is beautiful and gentle.

She had attempted to cheer me up. During

the visit, her father had told funny stories and she had laughed heartily. She

hadn’t been scared rather she had been like a kitten studying me curiously.

‘Look into plays that the Society

ladies like.’ I commanded.

‘Yes, young Master.’ Xavier

replied.

The door closed heavily behind the

General and his man, shortly after we heard the creak of carriage wheels.

We kept silent until the general’s

carriage went out of view.

There was a hiccup.

Everyone burst out laughing.

I grimace at my own shamelessness

as the rest of my household were clutching their bellies laughing.

‘Oh Fredericka!’

‘“It’s was my favourite”! Hahaha!’

‘And that cute act?! You were like

a little girl. Very cute!’

More laughter.

‘The general seemed pleased, so it

turned out alright.’ Oliver said wiping tears from his eyes.

It was fine if he was pleased, but

to the General, I must seem little more than a child.

‘Well, I just imitated Marie.’ I

said with a smile as my maid

‘Wait? What?’ she asked confused.

‘Marie is the cutest person around

me.’

Aside from that, he kissed my hand!

Oh how exciting. But, it was only a greeting, it didn’t have any deeper

connotations.

But when he lifted my hands to his

lips...so das.h.i.+ng so sophisticated! (Zuben: Someone has fallen hard)

Could I afford such a grown up man

who exuded such intense s.e.x appeal like 『buwaa』 (Zuben: Like buwaaa! Like a man standing in dry ice)

When I was with Eugene, it had been

so stiff. I have never experienced such a feeling before.

I never realised the back of my

hand was so sensitive, I could still feel the sensation of General Volker’s

lips on my skin. It was strange and numb. I want to scream and run and hide. I

feel agitated and restless.

There was a knock on the door.

Eugene? No. It was a messenger with

the formal request for the dissolution of the engagement from the Duke of Cajes.

How could he turn up without even a

by-your-leave? Is it that they were more concerned about the consequences of

not coming?

I suppose now that the engagement

is cancelled they don’t need to keep up the pretence of politeness.

The messenger sat proudly in the

proffered chair, and narrowed his fox-like eyes at me. He told us his name was

Garde.

‘Lady Fredericka, please sign this

doc.u.ment right away.’ He said, while his words were polite, his tone was rude.

He unfurled a paper that had been tied with a grey ribbon.

‘I will read it,’ Father said

taking the doc.u.ment.

The written agreement to end the

marriage contract.

I held my breath as Father read it.

For a time there was only silence.

‘I have a question.’

‘Is there any room for questions?’ the

messenger asked arrogantly with a raised eyebrow.

Why did the Duke send this person?

My Mother was sitting beside with a

fixed smile on her face, yet her hand held me gripping my arm tighter and

tighter. I tried to keep the discomfort from my expression.

‘It says here “Accepting Fredericka

Castley’s error…” what error does that specifically refer to?’ my father asked.

What error? What have I done that

was a disgrace towards Eugene and the Cajes family?

‘Think of it as an error in the

doc.u.ment if you do not understand.’ The messenger replied.

My tried to hold down my temper;

how could I understand if you don’t explain?

‘In other words, this agreement is

trying to say that the Castley family is at fault. Is it?’ my father asked the

messenger.

This may have been the plan from

the start.

The messenger s.h.i.+fted in his seat,

and uncrossed his long legs. He took a sip of his tea and returned the cup to

the saucer with a loud clatter.

‘Eugene went to the ball last night

with another woman and told my daughter in front of a lot of people, that the

woman with him was his destined love and he wanted to break the engagement. I

am afraid there was been a mistake. How do you like this?’

‘Where you there?’ the messenger

asked, ‘Is there any evidence? You are trying to malign my master.’ The man

said with a derisive laugh.

There were many witnesses, the

other attendees, the orchestra, the servants.

‘Do you think I cannot protect my

daughter?’ My father said his jaw tense. The messenger merely looked amused.

‘I will delete that line. We agree

to cancel the marriage contract between ourselves and the Cajes family.’

Oliver presented a pen, and father

crossed out the offending line before signing.

‘We formally acknowledge the

cancellation of engagement between Fredericka Castley and Eugene Cajes. I hope

we never cross paths in the future.’

The messenger took the doc.u.ment,

and left out house laughing loudly.

‘I’m sorry, Father,’ I said after

the odious man left. I wish I was a better woman.  (Zuben: Girl, how is it your fault that

family is full of shysters?)

I should have been able to avoid

this.

‘Heh heh, that messenger, I’m sure

he’ll be crowing that he got the better of the Castleys.’ Father said without

anger.

Good, Father isn’t daunted.

People will talk. The misfortune of

others is like nectar to bees for Society.

Hopefully our business will not

lose customers because of this.

The duke was obviously trying to

manipulate the story to Eugene’s benefit, and place the responsibility of the

break up on me.

The acquisitioning party should

have the higher hand. It’s like telling your enemy, ‘this is my weakness.’

(Zuben: This is gobbledegook, but nothing came up better)

I gave them goods and they taught me

weakness.

We are the losing party. When the

story comes out, my family and I would become “pitiful”.

We couldn’t even ask for a

settlement even if we wanted to.

n.o.bles are troublesome.

Would I be able to go see the play

with General Volker?

It looks like it would be

impossible.

In the background, Mother

repeatedly cursed the messenger’s name.

I rubbed my sore arm as I listened.

This is rather unfortunate.

I’m sorry.

9 Volker: A Fox Borrowing the Power of a Tiger

A cup of fragrant tea sat before

me.

There was a man sitting on the

other side of the table wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.

His behaviour was very suspicious.

I wondered if he was like this with

Lady Fredericka, and became anxious.

♢

When we returned from the Castley

residence, there was a man waiting for me. He shouted at my carriage in a

rather embarra.s.sing manner as we pa.s.sed through the gate.

I looked at Xavier; the person

seemed to be a messenger from the Duke Cajes residence.

He had waited all afternoon, he

said, because of my absence, time had been wasted. What should he do if he was

scolded by the Duke? He cried, while looking angry.

When Xavier and I did not say

anything, he fell silent. I wondered if he noticed his own rudeness. He gave

his name and said he had important matters to discuss from the Duke, so a maid

directed him to a drawing room.

Xavier had an appalled expression

as the man walked away.

‘Do you think he is really from the

Duke? It is rather unbelievable,’

‘Lack of talented manpower…?’

Xavier went to check details with

the house keeper. I handed my coat to my footman, and walk unhurriedly to the

reception room.

♢

It seemed in the mean time, he

remembered his position. The recent abominable manners were put aside, and the

messenger was wiping his sweat nervously. He gave a nervous smile as he

accepted tea from the maid.

It just seemed unlikely that this

person was a messenger from the Duke.

Something felt off.

He was behaving like a commoner

confused by the sudden acquisition of power they were not accustomed to.

He began by saying using the

Western army as security detail last night was a waste of troops, and I should

have thought of my position as a general. As he continued, his tone got more

arrogant.

When he finally concluded, I was

annoyed, ‘I was asked to a.s.sure security last night by the West General as a

favour. It was a last minute thing. I do not understand what the Duke’s concern

is.’

But the timing…it is probably

related to Lady Fredericka, that the Duke would come to see the security

officer for the ball last night. (Zuben: I know it’s a plot contrivance, but

why did they need security anyway?)

As I spoke, the messenger drank his

tea casually.

‘Last night, Eugene the heir to the

Duke of Cajes broke his engagement with Fredericka.’

I raise a brow, ‘So I’ve heard.’ I

replied.

He leaned over and said in a conspiratory

tone, ‘Actually, the engagement was a conspiracy by the Viscount Castley. The

General may not know this, but Fredericka is a spend thrift. A wasteful woman.

She spent the Duke’s money without end, claiming it was for her bridal

trousseau.’

Hmm…

‘The nouveau riche Castleys are a

vulgar clan.  She goes about wear gaudy jingly

jangly jewellery about showing off their so called wealth. Isn’t it all a lie?’

Hmm… (Zuben: Indeed)

‘She was the one who tempted Lord

Eugene in the first place, showing off her chest with low cut dresses. And he

was tempted enough to propose!’

Hmm…

‘Eugene is young, so who could

blame him? He was deceived by her ample charms. The only thing good about that

girl are her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Hahahah’

I growled but he didn’t notice.

‘But Lord Eugene eventually became

wise to her fox like ways. There was numerous evidence of her true common

behaviour. So finally he broke off the engagement yesterday. But that sly fox

girl played the pitiful victim.’

The messenger’s face was flush with

excitement as he recounted this tale. He took a sip of tea to calm down.

‘So what are you trying to tell

me?’ I asked. The only evidence of my rage was my hands gripping the armrests

tightly.

‘Well, the duke wants the truth of

the matter to be known, since you may have received a biased report from the

guards at the party, so as not to be embarra.s.sed later.’

The messenger said with a smile.

‘It was strange in the first place

for a duke’s son to marry a viscount’s daughter. Their family status is too

different. It’s like the stars compared to stones. Besides, they only bought

their t.i.tle with gold in the turmoil of the last great war. Such low blood

people should not mix with a Duke’s n.o.ble blood.’

‘That girl is a vulgar woman, like

a prost.i.tute that invites men in the back streets.’

I shot out of my chair,

‘I will not listen to any more of

this for I fear my ears will rot!’

The messenger jumped at the tone of

my voice.

‘Er, yes! That’s right, that girl

is…’ it seems the messenger was taking my words at his convenience. He was

rubbing his hands together like a little housefly, laughing. So I pulled out my

sword and held it against the messenger’s pale cheek.

He squealed. (Zuben: Squeal piggy

squeal)

‘Shut up, you cretin!’ I growled,

‘I will not listen to you malign that woman any longer.’

The messenger sputtered, he began

retreating, keeping his eyes on the s.h.i.+ny blade,

‘Why are you attacking me so

suddenly? I am a messenger of the duke! Can such a thing be forgiven?!’

‘Be quiet, or I will sew that mouth

closed so that lies may not pa.s.s from your lips.’

The messenger paled. His mouth

gaped open like a fish.

‘I believe what I see with my own

eyes and Lady Fredericka is not the kind of woman you are maligning her to be!’

The messenger scrambled out of the

reception room, stumbling on all fours.

‘Weren’t you too patient?’ Xavier said

as he entered the reception room.

‘I was about to choke from anger.’

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

‘Aren’t you worried about the House

of Lords?’

I did not spend a lot of time in

court due to military duties. I had to patiently listen to confirm that Cajes

had definitely cancelled the engagement with Fredericka.

I was nearly dizzy with the

ridiculousness of the whole situation.

‘I do not care about the Lords.’

Xavier gave a small laugh as he

packed up the tea things.

♢