After lunch, Alexander and the Count chat in front of a cup of tea. I ask lady Elisabeth to have a walk in the garden.

Countess de Ruis leaves to her lodgings, but lady Lyana appears magically after her. Are they taking turns to watch me?

Because they don't want me to cause a ruckus?

«My Lady,» my lady in waiting greets me, bowing lightly. She doesn't just nod to me, as I've asked her to do.

I guess it's because of an outsider's presence.

«Good day, lady Lyana.» I smile at her. I thought she would stay in her chambers for a few days.

Her fingers are trembling unnoticeably, but she seems all right for the rest. She must be nervous, but she still came here to assist me.

She greets Elisabeth with a simple nod, and the girl just lifts her eyebrows in response.

«I thought you sent this woman away, Duchess Kyre, yet here she is...» she comments. «But I guess you still think the same about sharing your husband with other women, don't you?»

What?

I glance at Lyana's suddenly pale face and turn to face Elisabeth. She should have found a way to attack me without implying anyone else.

«It's not Duchess,» I correct her, without reacting in any way to her claims.

I don't see the point in saying something like that. Does she want to cause doubts? Make Lyana fear my reaction?

What's her intention?

«What?» she asks, blinking, confused.

«It's not Duchess for you. It's your grace.»

It's something in common she has with Count Grahm. He also doesn't talk politely to Alexander. Maybe, it's because he's sure he will become a Duke after his father's death, so he already treats my husband as an equal.

But they're not equal. Not even if the Count already was a Duke.

And, for sure, his daughter doesn't have any right to call me Duchess.

«It would be in the capital, at least,» I add. «Here in Kyre, you can address me as your Lady.»

Elisabeth Grahm clenches her fists; her face becomes red with fury. Yet, she can't do anything here. I can see that she'd like to slap me, to scratch me with her long nails. At least to ruin my cute hairstyle.

But she's impotent. More than I was in the capital.

«This is my territory, little girl,» I whisper after getting a step closer. «You better realise your position and stop trying to bother me. It won't help you. And you'll fall even lower...»

«You...» she breathes through her gritted teeth.

«You should thank me, Elisabeth dear. Thanks to me, you're going to be Empress. Isn't that what you wanted?»

I fix a lock of hair behind my ear with a light movement, tilting my head to the side with a cold smile.

«I couldn't bear to see you struggle with your marriage perspectives, so I wrote to my contacts in search of help.»

«I knew it was you!» she almost shouts. Unfortunately, she remembers to keep her tone normal at the last moment. I'll need some more time to make a fool out of her.

Till now, her capability to read the situation and understand her role has been so low that it's hilarious. She's grown up thinking that her place is next to the throne, her birthright higher than anyone else, and her existence more relevant.

Just a spoiled little brat.

«If you didn't appear out of nowhere, I would have been Archduchess,» she says after cooling down her temper. «I hope you understand that it's difficult to adapt to such a change. Being polite to someone inferior isn't easy at all. Your grace.»

«You weren't going to become anything. Ever. You just can't see what's evident. Your place isn't in Kyre and won't ever be.»

«His grace's, Duke Kyre's, place shouldn't be this small castle in the middle of nowhere. He should be in the capital, but he can't because of someone making trouble for him.»

«Elisabeth,» I sigh, «I think it's enough. I know why you came here, and you'll spare our time if you retire and prepare for your imminent journey.»

«Why should I retire? Just because you say it?»

«I'm giving you a suggestion that would save you from a worse end. I won't let you get your hands on my husband, no matter the means I have to use. I'll destroy the whole world before letting you even close to Alexander.»

«You sure have guts.»

«Oh, I don't. I just like seeing the world burning and my enemies struggling with fire. Now, are you an enemy? Or just a bug that stumbled on me by chance and thought she might as well do some damage?»

I step even closer to her.

«What are you?» I press her. «An enemy or a bug? Which end do you prefer: burning in flames or crushed because of your annoying attitude?»

Elisabeth looks at me with wide eyes. For sure, she wasn't expecting such a direct attack.

«You better focus on your job right now. You'll be sent as a concubine to the Emperor of Asteria. If you want to survive, you have to work your way up to a better position. Those people are ruthless, and they don't care about you one bit.»

They don't care about me, and we're related.

«Ethiro will only profit from having you there. Don't forget that it's a mission, not your choice or your right. You ought to give back to your country everything that your country provided you with till now: profitable economical transactions, respect, and security.»

She won't be able to survive in a foreign court regardless of my advice. She's too spoiled and fast to reach odd conclusions.

«I can write to my family, ask them to protect you. But I won't do it for free. You'll have to help me back.»

«I don't need anything from you,» she spits out. «And I'm not going. My father won't let me.»

«Let's see about that,» I say with a shrug.

Once Count Grahm understands there's no point in pushing his dear daughter in Alexander's arms, that he won't notice her no matter what... He'll dispose of her as fast as possible.

He wants an Empress in the family, and it will be the better chance he ever had to achieve his goal. Plus, his son will profit from his daughter's position. Duke Grahm will be more inclined to proclaim the Count his successor for good.

The Grahms won't sacrifice such a juicy possibility for Elisabeth's sake.

When it becomes official, my benefits will be mainly two. I'll get rid of a rival, and I won't be in life danger anymore.

On the contrary, once lady Elisabeth isn't a marriage candidate for Alexander, it will be in their interest to leave me alone. I don't have titles nor political influence in the Empire. Hence, they will let me sink Alexander's chances to get the throne with my sole presence.

A prisoner wife will deduct points to him in front of the public eyes. I'm not sure if the Emperor declared our marriage with this objective, but I might as well use this turn of events to the fullest.

For the moment, it's better if his majesty pretends to be considering which girl to take as a wife. The Grahms will move their focus from Alexander to him. Their younger daughter will become a candidate; they'll set traps for the other competitors and forget about me for a while. In the meantime, I'll make sure that the Grahm girl doesn't stand a chance.

«You're a witch,» Elisabeth whispers with tears in her eyes. «You bewitched the Duke of Kyre and decided to destroy the Empire out of spite!»

«What I make of my husband doesn't have anything to do with you. If I want him to be my puppet, to realise my wishes and desires, I will make him one.»

While the girl's brows twitch in annoyance, I start to feel tired of the conversation. It might be time to go: this is getting boring.

«And it's not out of spite,» I murmur. After all, I'm just defending myself.

Lady Elisabeth doesn't seem to have the same opinion.

«You already transformed your husband's first mistress into a scarecrow and got rid of your biggest rival in a few months' time.»

Oh, I forgot lady Lyana was listening to all of this. I'll have to reassure her later that I wasn't serious.

I don't want to burn everything, and I don't see Alexander as my puppet to success. I'm doing this in part for him. I don't want him to worry about me all the time, as he's weak at coping with such stress.

When I turn to my lady in waiting, though, I find her looking at me with her eyes shining and her hands joined on her chest.

It's as if she was looking at a knight in white armour, not a woman that just attacked a teenager and threatened her.

People in Kyre sure are strange.