After tea time, I pass the rest of the evening to plan the costs of building a school in the village I first visited here in Kyre. I've already sent offers for the position of teacher.

For now, I'll find one and send him to a group of villages.

If everything turns out right, I'll expand the projects. Also, I might as well instruct the teachers to keep an eye on smart children and present me a report about them. Talented people are always welcomed.

I wanted to pass the rest of the time by shamelessly staring at my husband, but he made me sit on the armchair with my back against him. He said I was distracting him, but I really wasn't doing anything!

I've trained tying knots with the embroidery thread. Then, I wrote a letter to Anne Mary.

She's very odd as a person, but her correspondence is quite entertaining. She promised to come to visit with her husband, one of these days.

I haven't seen lady Lyana for days, now that I think about it. I've constantly been under a certain Duke's watch, so it didn't seem right to ask other people to feel scrutinised all the time too.

I asked Alexander to let me alone at least in the afternoon, but he simply rebuked me saying that every time he lets me out of his sight, I almost get killed.

I think he's just looking for excuses, in fact. That assassin won't try anything in the short term. Infiltrating Stoneyard needs time and skills. Now that everyone knows there is an assassin, not even passing by the gate will be that easy.

The servant's door opens, and a nervous Olly walks in. He lopes to me with a careful expression. He looks at the desk a couple of times, as if fearing Alexander.

«What are you so scared about?» I tease him.

«Does my Lady want me to take away the tea service?» he asks, diligently straightening his back.

«Not yet. Come here.» I pat the place next to me and wait until he's seated. «What have you been doing?»

«I learned how not to break cups,» he reveals. «And also to arrange cookies on the plate.»

Is there any pattern for that?

«Are you having fun here at Stoneyard?»

Olly blinks a couple of times, recalling that the words they taught him must be the best answer.

«I am working hard to repay my Lady,» he says, in the end.

I rub his hair playfully, and he closes his eyes. His lips are curled in a little smile, so discreet that I believe he's not grinning on purpose.

When Olly opens his eyes slightly, he sees something behind me that frightens him to the guts. He jumps up and grabs the rim of his shirt, his shoulders slumped.

I turn with a sigh and glare at Alexander, who is now conveniently standing at my side. I get up as well, to lessen the difference in heights. Not that it helps.

«Why are you scaring him, Alexander!» I scold him.

I was trying to have a conversation here. Also, poor Olly has always been scared by this dark Lord.

«You could at least try to smile reassuringly,» I whisper, glancing at the shivering child.

«Why would I do that?» Alexander replies, lifting his eyebrows. His shoulders are relaxed, his tone is calm. However, his eyes are attentively analysing the little boy.

«Because Olly is a child,» I explain, all in the same low tone.

When my husband's lips curl in an evil smile, Olly's eyes fill with tears. Oh, wonderful.

I split from my Duke and crouch in front of the child.

«Do not pay attention to him,» I reassure him, grabbing his shoulders. «I won't let anyone hurt you for no reason, not even the Lord.»

Olly lifts his arms, and I hug him comfortingly. Alexander chokes, behind my back. Oh, what won't he come up with, now, to have my attention back?

«You can bring the tea service out,» I decide. «And you can eat the cookies. Next time, though, don't run out immediately after delivering the tea. We can eat cookies together...»

I accompany Olly to the door holding his little hand. We pass in front of a sulking Duke, who's impatiently waiting with his arms crossed.

Olly turns his head on alert, and he doesn't move his gaze away from my Duke until we reach the door.

«I just said you don't need to fear him,» I chuckle.

Olly pulls my skirt, and I bow down to hear his question.

«Is my Lady imprisoned, by any chance?»

«I am not,» I sigh.

«I can help you run away!»

«I'm here because I like it,» I reassure him. How sweet!

Somehow disappointed, Olly walks out with the tray.

I turn to Alexander with a stern gaze, settled on telling him my mind. However, the warm, loving eyes that I meet are so surprising that I'm speechless. He's smiling, nostalgic and relaxed.

«You really love children,» he says.

«I do,» I shrug. They're cute, talk funny and do odd things. Who doesn't like children?

«It doesn't mean you have to spoil every single child around,» he remembers to point out.

Oh, is that so?

«Why are you acting like this? Are you afraid Olly steals something?»

«Not really.»

«Then what?»

«He can't steal my wife from me, but it gets on my nerves that he dares to try.»

I open my mouth to reply, but then I drop my jaw and stay like that for a couple of seconds.

«Are you for real?» I spit when I regain the capability to talk. «Are you jealous of a five-year-old child?»

«Six.»

«What?»

«He's six years old.»

«And I'm eighteen, almost nineteen. I could be Olly's mother!»

«No, you couldn't.»

«Oh, there are more than twelve years of difference.»

Alexander sits on the couch and waits for me to reach him.

«Duchess, how old do you think I am?»

Oh, this is a tricky question. I have no clue.

If it was a woman to ask, I would deduce years to make her happy. Women are easy to understand, fortunately.

My Duke, though, isn't a woman.

What do I know that could make me guess his age?

Lady Anne Mary said that the Ambassador and my Duke are close in age, which means that my Duke must be between twenty-five and thirty-something.

Then again, he said he heard about my first public appearance when he was ten. The event happened fifteen years ago, but the story could have reached Kyre only later.

No, wait, there's some math issue here...

If my Duke heard about it immediately, then he would be twenty-five. But it's almost impossible, Polis isn't all that relevant to a Lord of the north.

Oh, my, he must be very young. Older than me, but definitely young for the responsibilities on his shoulders.

Could it be that I remember incorrectly and Alexander heard about my first day on the throne ten years ago? That would make more sense.

«Do you intend to think about it for the whole day?» he presses me.

«Don't distract me,» I cut his words.

He can't be younger than twenty-five. He's trying to prove that Olly is a potential suitor for me, which means that our age difference has to be around twelve.

It can't be more than that.

I stare at the Duke's eyes, this time firmly intent on not getting lost in his dark iris. I'm trying to figure out how old his skin looks.

There aren't many wrinkles around his eyes, just a couple, very light. And they're the result of his smile rather than time.

His lips are soft and silky. His beard is dark as coal when it grows a few millimetres. It happens rarely, but I've never seen a single white hair. Not even among the locks on his head.

He has the skin of a twenty-year-old boy, but his demeanour doesn't have anything to envy to any middle-aged noble. Plus, my Duke is trained and athletic.

He can't be thirty! It would be so unfair to all us common mortals that age.

«Twenty-nine,» I try, blinking innocently.

Alexander leans back on the couch and sighs.

«That would be a whole ten years of difference. Tell me again that twelve years is a generation.»

«Oh, but are you really that old?» I inquire, throwing salt on his wounds. He made such an unhappy face that I believe I'm mistaken by quite an amount.

«I'm not,» he says, in fact.

«How old are you, then?»

«Twenty-five.»

Oh, so he might have heard about me almost immediately when he was ten. Maybe, I did hear correctly.

«It was indeed time you got married,» I comment. «His majesty was right about that.»

«You teased me enough for today, Thea. Let's go have dinner now.»

«Oh, but I was serious.»

Also, I haven't finished.

After dinner, I'll set in motion my most evil plan! I won't tease my Duke just with words: I'll first restrain him on the bed.

Remembering my intentions, I grin.

This is going to be an interesting night.