Lorelei’s skirts fluttered as she marched through the hallways, eyes – staring straight ahead with determination. With a deep wrinkle between her brows and her lips the thinnest of lines, she made the servants running about their errands stop in their tracks and turn around, uncertain whether to believe their eyes. Jessup, who was supposed to lead the way, ran at Lorelei’s side, throwing worried glances at his mistress from time to time but wisely remaining silent. At the very back, Milly, who was equally excited and frightened, finished their small procession. The Duchess Norden looked like she was about to go to war.

Their small group reached Noah’s study and halted. Beneath her resolute façade, Lorelei was shaking like a leaf. This was crazy! What was she even going to do, question the orders of the Duke of Norden? Where did she even get the courage to do that? She did decide to turn on a new page and follow master Levi’s example, but she never had this in mind. Not overthinking things didn’t mean not thinking at all. Nevertheless, even if she had to break their fragile truce, she had to speak to Noah. What was going on with Saya was wrong. Yesterday he was ready to grant her any request. All she could hope for now was that there was still some of that benevolence left.

Secretly rubbing her sweating palms in her skirt, Lorelei motioned to knock on the door but was stopped by Jessup.

“Allow me, my lady.”

The squire landed three brisk knocks on the dark polished surface and waited. A muffled “Enter!” reached their ears and the youth opened the door.

“Lady Norden wishes to speak with the lord,” announced Jessup with a bow.

After receiving permission to enter, Lorelei stepped into the study with a quacking heart. Before the large paper-covered desk, Sir Aiden stood motionless as a rock, hands clasped behind his back and his body donning the impeccable blue-white uniform of the captain of Ildemar’s knights. Beside him, a middle-aged binshi woman with short hair and piercing eyes gave the newcomers a curious look. But Lorelei’s complete attention was focused on the man sitting behind the desk. Black doublet loosely thrown over the perpetual black shirt, the Duke of Norden was going through a stack of documents with an impenetrable expression.

The moment Lorelei and her group entered, Noah lifted his head and greeted them with a nod.

“Good morning, my duchess. What brings you here so early?”

‘He looks tired,’ thought Lorelei upon closely inspecting his face. It seemed like she was not the only one who had a restless night. Unlucky for him, she was going to sour his morning too.

“Good morning, my lord,” she said and returned his nod. “I am sorry for interrupting your meeting but there is an urgent matter I need to discuss with you.”

“Can it wait?”

“I am afraid not, my lord.”

Noah’s gray eyes studied her in response. When their gazes met, Lorelei managed to withstand it without averting her head. Her husband’s brows raised slightly as he lay the papers on the table.

“Very well. Aiden, Karusa, I will go through the guard’s schedules and the ceremonial preparations and will discuss any changes with you later. You are free now.”

“As you wish, my lord,” answered the two in unison and politely exited the study.

When the door closed behind them, Noah returned his attention to Lorelei.

“Now, take a seat and tell me what’s bothering you,” he said, motioning Jessup who hurried and put an empty chair in front of the desk.

With a heart that was trying to fly out of its cage, Lorelei sat on the edge of the chair, her back straight and her fingers playing with the tassel of her decorative belt. She took a breath to calm herself so when she opened her mouth, her voice was completely calm.

“You have ordered for Lady Saya to stay under house arrest indefinitely.”

“I have,” came the equally emotionless reply. Noah’s fingers interlocked and he continued unperturbed. “I believe you will agree that I had a valid reason to do so, considering her involvement in William’s plan. She should reflect on her actions for a couple of weeks.”

“Even so,” Lorelei’s grip around the tassel tightened, “isn’t it a bit too harsh to allow her only bread and water on top of restricting her movement?”

“What?” Noah jolted. “Is that true? I’ve never given such orders.”

“But it is a known fact among the kitchen staff.” Lorelei threw a glance over her shoulder to Milly, who was quietly standing next to the door.

“What’s all this about, Milly?” The duke’s question made the servant flinch.

“M-my lord, it is as the lady says. For the past week, the food allocated for Lady Saya’s chambers has been returned untouched with only some bread and water missing.”

A grim expression spread over Noah’s face as he contemplated for a moment. He then turned back to his wife.

“Did you believe me to be that cruel to a woman?” There were anger and pain mixing in his tone.

“No, my lord, I never suspected you.” Lorelei shook her head. “If it was your order, there wouldn’t be other food besides bread and water delivered to Saya in the first place. But since normal meals were delivered and returned, there is only one possible explanation.”

“Are you accusing Gregor of this?” Her husband’s tone was heavy as he spat out the question.

“I can’t believe it either, my lord.” Lorelei bit her lower lip. “However, since you were not the one to order this, there is no other explanation that I can think of. And there is even more. Milly, tell the duke what you told me.”

At the urge of her mistress, the maid recounted the rumors circulating between the castle walls. With each passing minute, Noah’s brows drew closer and closer together. When the girl finished, he remained silent for a while with only his finger rhythmically tapping on the desk.

“What bravery, whispering behind someone’s back,” murmured Noah to himself while a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. He then turned to Jessup. “Take Milly and gather the kitchen staff. Make clear that their pay will be reduced by a third for a month and if the rumors don’t stop immediately, there will be more than a reprimand coming their way. Also, find the one who started this, give them five strikes with a cane, and put them on garbage collecting and latrine duty until further notice. The Shadows should keep an eye on them and report any other suspicious activities immediately. And tell the kitchen matron that I expect her in my study three hours after noon today. She has some explaining to do.”

“Yes, master,” nodded Jessup and prepared to leave before Lorelei’s voice stopped him.

“Just a moment, my lord. Isn’t this a bit too harsh?”

“Then what did you expect me to do when you came here and reported such misconduct?” Noah leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Misconduct? But… What’s happening to Saya isn’t even their fault!” exclaimed Lorelei in frustration. “I never intended for the kitchen to bear the brunt of your anger only because of me accusing Sir Gregor. I only wanted for Saya to be treated humanely! If you want to punish someone, punish me…”

“Enough.” Noah lifted his hand and cut her off, but his tone was surprisingly calm.

“But my lord!”

“Jess, Milly, get going,” he motioned with his head at the door, ignoring her protest. “I have matters to discuss with Lady Norden.”

The squire and the maid quickly bid their masters farewell and scurried out of the room. The duke and duchess remained alone in the study among heavy silence. Lorelei was both angry and frightened, her heart weighing heavy with guilt. She had brought harm upon innocent people. It had been stupid to talk to Noah in the first place. She should have gone straight to Saya’s chambers and cleared up the mess herself but she hadn’t wanted to do it over the head of the castle’s master. Besides, confronting a knight and accusing him of such unchivalrous deeds was an act that required the master of the castle’s backing. In the end, the only thing she managed to do was to implicate the kitchen staff without even solving the main issue. This was not fair!

She opened her mouth to protest, but Noah was the first to break the silence.

“Last night I promised that there will be no more secrets. Still, explaining my decisions to you in front of my retainers would undermine my authority as master of this household. Please, understand that I meant no offense, my lady, but I could not allow you to question my orders.”

“That…” Lorelei gasped and her eyes rounded as she stared at his stoic face. “I never intended to…I am so sorry, my lord! I was careless.”

“Enough apologies, my lady.” There were no traces of anger left in his voice. “It is commendable that you are worried about Saya’s wellbeing and the castle staff. But there are a few things that you have missed in your agitation.”

“Missed?” Lorelei blinked confused.

“Firstly,” Noah lifted a finger, “I have known Gerash… Sir Gregor ever since he was a snotty ten-year-old brat. I can vouch for his character just as good as his parents. The guy loves Saya to the point of stupidity and would never lift a finger on her, not to mention starve her.”

Another finger rose before Lorelei, who felt her cheeks starting to burn.

“Secondly, the whole bread and water thing has been going on for about a week. I can guarantee that Gregor has been up and about for no more than two days. I have never heard of a sick, unconscious man being able to give orders or bully his wife.”

Lorelei felt the heat spreading to the back of her neck but her hands, for some reason, remained ice cold. She wanted to look away but couldn’t get her eyes off of the three accusatory fingers.

“Thirdly, the kitchen staff should have reported this irregularity to the kitchen matron as soon as it occurred, and she should have reported it to William or, now that he is absent, to me. Instead, they started spreading rumors using the fact that I have suppressed any information about Saya and William’s involvement in your kidnapping; they implied an affair between a high-noble lady of Norden with the Lord Steward and accusing my strongest shaman in acts of jealousy. Even under normal circumstances, this would have been slander with big consequences. But the stability of Saya and Gregor’s marriage is crucial for the peaceful future coexistence of binshi and limerians. It could be that the spreading of rumors was accidental but it can also be intentional sabotage, so measures need to be taken.”

“The Red Hands?!” Lorelei clasped a hand over her mouth as her whole body shivered. Seeing her reaction, Noah’s expression mellowed even further.

“I doubt that they are involved this time. Those crazy dogs like it bloody and messy, sneaky rumors are not their thing. But there are enough other parties that could benefit from this. From the Five Barons, only Baroness De Vindur and Baron De Mar fully supported the union of binshi and limerian nobility, Baron Argente remains neutral and Baron Firmon and Baron Rowell were against it. Not to mention that most of the six kush-turgans of the binshi consider their marriage and the example it sets blasphemous.”

“I was such a fool,” muttered Lorelei as the complexity of the situation slowly sank in.

“You are by no means a fool, my lady.” Noah allowed himself a small chuckle. “You just tend to act too much on your emotions.”

His hand brushed against the scar on his face as he continued with a sigh.

“Acting upon one’s emotions can be dangerous as both you and I have experienced. I of all people know how hard it is to remain somber when people you care about are involved; it’s a task I’ve been failing miserably at for years. Well, maybe one needs to be a special breed like William de Mar in order to succeed.”

Noah stood up and came around the desk, stretching out his hand to the stunned Lorelei.

“But you are right, my lady. There is still a mystery to be solved here. So let us go and have a talk to the main suspects.”