Chapter 414: The Duke’s First Lesson

Chapter 413: The Duke’s First Lesson

Lyria’s POV

For a while, neither of us spoke.

The words I had just uttered seemed to linger between us.

Duke Valenridge continued to regard me, though his expression had become difficult to read.

At length, he drew a quiet breath.

"That," he muttered, almost to himself, "may prove to be a rather difficult task."

My brows creased.

"For s-some reason, I d-doubt that. Being my anchor cannot be more d-difficult than being yours. N-neither is easier, I m-must say."

He gave a soft laugh.

"Touché, Your Highness."

I smiled despite myself.

He regarded me for another moment before shaking his head slowly, as though arriving at a conclusion he had not entirely anticipated reaching.

"Nevertheless, you are still standing. And, if you would be so kind, I believe you ought to sit before we discuss the particulars of this

sponsorship."

I nearly laughed.

"S-sponsorship?"

"Would you prefer another term?"

"I d-do not know, to be h-honest."

I moved toward the chair positioned beside the window overlooking the palace grounds the one I ordinarily used when I took my meals and carried it to the reading table, setting it down across from where he sat.

Duke Valenridge watched me do so.

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

"W-what?" I asked.

"You appear to be in rather good spirits this morning."

"P-pardon?"

"You heard me." He studied me as he spoke. "You are ordinarily quite reserved, Your Highness. Careful too. You measure your words before you offer them, and even when you are comfortable there is a certain caution about you that does not entirely depart. But you are somewhat more open this morning."

I lowered my gaze for a moment.

"Is t-that a bad t-thing?"

"No." His answer came immediately. "It is not a bad thing at all."

"I am, however, wounded rather deeply by the suspicion that your improved disposition is not owed entirely to my company. I rather think Benedict and Alistair may have had some part in it." He said after a pause.

My face grew warm at once at the mention of those people.

Duke Valenridge’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Something occurred," he said.

It was not a question.

"N-no," I said quickly.

His eyebrow rose.

"That was an unusually prompt denial."

I swallowed.

"N-nothing happened."

"Indeed," he said pleasantly. "Though you need not be concerned, Your Highness. I have no intention whatsoever of compelling you to tell me anything."

I breathed somewhat more easily at that.

Then he added, with maddening composure,

"Although I should mention that you smell rather distinctly of Earl Hawthorne."

I froze entirely.

I was wearing perfume. I had been wearing it since the maids dressed me. And apparently it had done nothing whatsoever.

I opened my mouth to speak though no words came out. The warmth in my face became considerably more pronounced and I resolved, with some effort, to try again.

"I—"

Duke Valenridge shool his head.

"You need not offer an explanation, Your Highness. There is, however, something you ought to learn, and I should be remiss if I permitted the opportunity to pass merely because it might cause you a degree of discomfort."

I could only nod.

"Explanations," he said, "are not always to one’s advantage."

He settled more comfortably in his chair, his forearms resting loosely before him.

"An explanation may appear entirely innocent to the person offering it. And yet, to the person receiving it, the very willingness to explain may suggest guilt where none existed before. It draws attention to the very thing one wished to make unremarkable."

He paused, considering his next words.

"There are circumstances in which one ought not explain oneself at all. There are others in which a modest explanation is the prudent course, particularly where silence might otherwise be misconstrued to one’s detriment. And there are occasions upon which one must explain fully and without reservation, because to remain silent would be to leave another person at liberty to construct the truth in one’s absence."

His gaze remained steady upon me.

"This, however, is not one of those occasions. You need not explain anything to me."

I sat with his words for a moment, turning them over quietly.

I understood them. And yet there was something else pressing at the edge of my thoughts, something I could not quite set aside.

"What if I w-want to explain?" I asked him.

He went still.

For the first time since the subject had arisen, he did not answer immediately.

His eyes rested upon me with an expression I could not quite determine. It was not surprise, precisely, and not its absence either.

Then, very slowly, a small smile appeared.

"Then I should advise you not to."

"But w-why?" I asked him.

"Because," he said, "I am not deserving of it. It would serve you considerably better to keep me wanting without supplying the information. Besides, Your Highness, a little mystery is hardly the worst thing a princess may leave in the possession of a duke."

He let that settle for a moment before continuing.

"Now. There is something I should very much like to understand regarding our newfound arrangements. The ones in which I am apparently to become your fourth teacher."

He gestured lightly between us with one hand.

"I have been many things in my life, Your Highness. A duke, a son, a brother, political inconvenience—"

I laughed at that despite myself.

"—and, on particularly unfortunate days, a man obliged to sit through speeches that would have benefited enormously from being considerably shorter."

I covered my mouth, attempting without much success to contain another laugh.

"But a teacher?"

He shook his head slowly.

"That is entirely new territory." His expression became thoughtful. "I am therefore compelled to enquire precisely what this proposal entails."

"I d-did not realise there n-needed to be terms," I said.

"There are always terms. Particularly where power, instruction, and trust are all simultaneously involved." He regarded me steadily. "Surely you have some manner of terms with Benedict and the others who have undertaken to instruct you?"

I shook my head.

"I d-do not."

He frowned at that.

"Now that makes me sound rather unbecoming by comparison." He leaned forward slightly. "Do tell me, Your Highness, have you not even the slightest terms for me? Nothing whatsoever? Not even an expectation? And is this arrangement merely teaching in the conventional sense, or something rather more than that?"