"How does one say this?" Nick asked.

Nick had asked to privately meet her so she came. They were in a private room in a local inn. It was wooden and had little furniture like a table and chairs with a ragged red carpet on the bottom. It wasn't a place Evangeline wanted to be in but one had to make concessions for friends, this was one of them.

"Say what?" Her eyebrow arching.

"Well, you know that  your lands are valuable to many, right ?" he started conversationally.

"Yes, I know it's why it was easy for me to be able to get money from it during my younger years," Evangeline replied.

The Lovestein dukedom had lands filled with fertile soil, beautiful country sides and some magic-stone mines. The mines are one of the more valuable parts, since magic stones held in built magic they also had the added benefits of increasing magic capactiy. They could make one's magic change from a bland pond to a swirling, colourful ocean of magic.

So even though she was still a young duchess after her parent's death, she was familiar enough with investment that it was easy  to get money from the lands.

It sustained her during her inexperienced years and now years of experience and knowledge honed her enough  that she turned her lands into something priceless. It was like rusty iron being cleaned into a sharp polished iron fit for many uses.

The Lovestein dukedom became one of the richer sides of the country, it made sense that it was valuable to many.

"My father wants them and I fear he will have them,"

"What?" Her mouth hang slightly, her eyes were also blown a bit wide, both were very disgraceful but it is something she allows for herself since she was just told something she clearly misheard.

"Perhaps I misheard, but did you say father?" she said in a careful even tone to keep her outward composure.

"Yes, you didn't hear it wrong," he replied his blue eyes on her.

"Father is planning on using the fact that your engagement got recently broken to make you give up the lands," he said in a tone so alike to saying ' how is the weather'.

She knew the sting would come even before she felt it, that engagement weakened her standing in society and her reputation. It was a waste from the beginning she never even liked that boy that way, Derrick Groffery, he was too bright, too sunny and far too willing to break etiquette while she was too broody, too dark and very unwilling to break etiquette unless necessary.

They were incompatible in romantic aspects but they had an okay platonic relationship. She hoped they would have a reasonable relationship where they could rely on each other during their marriage and he was her friend's brother (half but it still counted).

Even if she thought it was a waste of time and resources, since the Groffery and Lovestein relationship were close enough that marriage wasn't needed.Her parents loved the idea of them marrying and Evangeline wanted to honor that.

She even thought fondly of the distant marriage where they would be partners who worked effectively together in improving  and ruling her dukedom together.

Who would have known that he'd get jealous that she preferred his brother's company over his. Sure she knew he liked to walk with her during her visits to their manor and would even read up on subjects that they could engage in even if it wasn't something he'd read. But that didn't read into him liking her that way.

His jealousy escalated to a situation where she was "cheating" on him, she only barely managed to contain rumors and to show her innocence. But her engagement was broken by then, and high society's eyes on her were obsessive and cruel. It was akin to trying to breath underwater.

The worst part of it was that her image of a mature duchess who could make a dime become gold was almost ruined and her dukedom suffered for it. Ravenous whispers would follow her every move, always watching and judging her. It was worse than her first year as a duchess. The dukedom had lower income as many were uninterested in her businesses for some time when the rumors of her cheating spread.

She only managed to pull through because she put together comprehensive proof and evidence that she was innocent, the pressure from society lessened.

If the marquis use the engagement to take what was hers it would be very easy, he could start off with small land then larger land. It would snowball into him getting everything of hers.

Her feeling of distress however was not echoed by her close friend, it was the opposite he had a very calm expression he was even leisurely drinking his tea.

It took all of Evangeline's might and reasoning to not clobber the man in front of her. She imagined that she'd 'materialize her shadows into place and tie him onto the wall or any surface or she'd go the old-fashioned way and punch him blue and purple. It would be so simple but she couldn't.

He was Nicholas Grofery, the first son of the Grofery Marquis. She couldn't punch him blue and purple just because of his status. The reason he told her at all was because of their friendship and it was also part of the reason why she wouldn't punch him.  She forced herself to calm down, her emotions running high would not help anyone.

Still, from what she knew of his maternal family, he should be in a position that would allow him to pressure his father into stopping his plans.

It was a powerful mysterious family that held a lot of sway in their circles.

Why he wouldn't do that, though?

Evangeline remembered when they were younger, Nick would always look on enviously at her and her father's interactions or would stop everything he was doing just to get his father's attention. He would write on a notebook things that would make his father love him enough to pay attention to him and dote on him.

Soon he stopped that. He was moving on from his horrid father just like she was moving on from her parent's death.

As she took the situation in, she felt that she misread him at the time. He hadn't moved on at all!

No, he just buried that desire of his so deeply that she hadn't noticed in her grief.

Now, it came spilling out drenching everyone in its vicinity. Inking everything and everyone with its black despair.

He raised his fair hands in surrender," Hey, hey I can see you thinking of punching me,"

Wow. He truly has a high IQ. Who knew?

"But we can solve this using something I found," he took out a paper from one of his pocket.

He opened it up, it was creased and was yellowing the way old books do, it was a bit too dusty for her too see the wordings. However, she could clearly see the diagram.

It was an array that was circular in shape, it was inked in a weird metallic grey, with conjoining lines. As she glanced through it over and over again she realized that this array was used to hide things within it.

The implications run through her mind. She knew what she had to do.