The peaceful days did not return to the palace after the engagement party. With only two weeks before the wedding, the dressmaker that the Grand Duchess had found for Elena was practically stationed in her chambers, given how much time the woman and her team spent there to make Elena try on the dresses after each small change.Some of the guests that had been invited to the party also extended their visit until the wedding ceremony, those who lived far away and were important enough to be granted such a privilege, such as the Marquis of Miraval and his third wife, or Lord Bilory, the president of the Siena Bank and his daughter, Miss Bilory. Elena understood that, although it had been around 30 years since the Empire was established, there was still enough tension with the nobles and important families in Vallas that the House of Alba needed to deal with them in the most diplomatic manner possible.

His gaze fell on Elena, who’d fallen asleep once more. She’s most beautiful with that serene expression on her face, as if no worries cloud her dreams, as if she had nothing to fear lying by his side.She curled up next to him, and the feeling of her soft curves molding against his body was new to Ivar. And it was nice.‘What have I done?’He’d tried to indulge his lust when he was younger, although it had been so long ago he barely remembered the girl, only that she too got scared when his touch became too painful for her human sensitiveness, and that brought him back to his senses. Two different species shouldn’t mingle.Besides, humans were dirty and so easily corrupted, he learned it by witnessing horror after horror all t

The palace’s library was full of all kinds of books, but Elena wasn’t informed about the condition of the library in the Alvor Palace. Besides, the journey to get there would take at least ten days, even if they stopped only during the night, that was what the knights had told her when she asked about their upcoming return to the northern region of Vallas. It was necessary to have something to entertain herself during that time, so she and Laila had their fun shopping in the big bookstores of the city.“The Fairy Queen’s Secret Lover.” The girl giggled as she read the title she had in her hands. “Your Grace, it sounds like this is interesting, but is it really okay to read this kind of thing if you’re going to share a carriage with the Duke?”“He won’t mind. Besides, I might read this even before we pa

On the fifth day, they stopped to change horses and get some proper rest in a nice town. Elena was just happy that she would sleep in a proper bed, have her hair washed, and eat something that wasn’t dried meat. The massage in her temples and shoulders was also an additional blessing. “To be honest, my lady, when I received your letter with the offer to go to the Duke’s estate, I became very worried about you. But I’m relieved, after seeing with my own eyes how he treats you.” It was a good thing that Mariela had finally joined her at last. There were many days left until they reached Alvor, and she would be a good company to Laila. Besides, now that she was going to a foreign place, the old familiarity and warm feelings from the person who’d been serving by her side for more than six years was something that gave her some assurance.

Elena did not see Ivar the next day either, while she was getting acquainted with all the servants and learned about everything there was to know about the city of Aurora, the most important trading market between Eir and Vallas even in times before the Empire.A trip to the heart of the city, its schools, academy, and orphanage was the first thing on her list. Getting to meet the noble families that lived nearby came second.If the nobles around the capital or down in the south had their apprehensions about the Alba family and Ivar in particular, then it was a well-known fact that the nobles in Alvor just hated him.This duchy was built over the destruction of many old names that used to rule in the north of Vallas, and even some southern