After Naavah exited the sorcerer’s chamber, she made her way to the left, walking down the same darkened hallway on her way to him. She was still deep in thought about what Julian said to her regarding Fyodor’s respect for honesty. She hasn’t been honest, and more so, she even lied to him the other night. However, gaining the sorcerer’s help and his approval to not tell the truth to the Duke just yet, eased her mind.
As she passed by the stone wall, she remembered the indications given by her husband, and curiosity began to rise in her mind. The last time she visited Fyodor’s office room was with Linda’s help. Although she was so panicked back then, she couldn’t remember anything. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t even know when the maid had disappeared and left her alone at the door.
Turning to the right, she soon approached the library storage room and entered it. Cupboards with blank parchments, pieces of paper wrapped in leather covers, and new writing pens awaited her. There were several stacks of new books, ready to be reviewed before they were to be placed on the shelves in the library. She stopped beside a pile and took the first book in her hand.
“Chivalry education, the new practices,” she read the title in her mind. Taking another one, she read, “An introduction to the schoolyard. These books are not in a specific order.”
Raising her gaze, she spotted a piece of paper on the second pile from behind.
“Need to be organized, cataloged, and arranged. I guess these were bought recently.”
After putting the books back on the pile, she entered the main library through the front door. Naavah gasped when made the first step into the room. Due to the lack of windows, it was only illuminated by torches hanging from the walls, which resulted in a cozy yet welcoming ambiance. Numerous bookcases were standing in so many rows that she couldn’t even count them from where she stood. At the center of the room was a tall, wide oak table surrounded by two large, round armchairs. Naavah fastened her paces until she touched one of the armchairs and looked at the new sheets of paper and unused pens from the table.
She turned her head to the right and saw the carvings on the bookcases, naming the field in which they belonged. She walked to the herbology section and read the titles of some of the books arranged on the shelves. She found ones she had never read before and made a mental note to come here later to pick up some of them. After she reached the end of the row, she saw the field of economics, and, out of curiosity, she went there, reading some of the titles.
“I think these would help,” she thought, touching a few covers with two fingers. “After all, I should take my responsibilities soon.”
Deciding to come back here later, she left the library and went straight to Fyodor’s office. Passing by her office room, she walked straight ahead and noticed another office that the Duke had mentioned earlier. The butler’s office is across from the Lord’s office.
Opening the door to Fyodor’s office, Naavah found him buried in a pile of documents. She almost couldn’t contain her laughter when he flinched and made all the documents about to fall to the ground. He caught them with his hands while his legs shook at the weight.
“I should have knocked. I am sorry! Have you already had breakfast?”
“Yes,” said Fyodor, lowering his gaze and pursing his lips.
“Then let’s have a cup of tea together. What do you say?” asked Naavah, smiling and approaching his desk.
Fyodor caught her in his embrace and kissed her tenderly.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Samuel, the butler, brought them the tea set and filled the cups with the pale brown liquid. It was the first time she had the opportunity to properly observe him. It was a tall man with dark brown eyes and black hair. His body constitution was a direct result of years of intense and rigorous physical exercise and training. However, they had not yet exchanged any words, and she had no idea who he was.
“What did Julian say?”
“Oh, I, uh, caught a cold. He said he would prepare some tea for it and will give it to me later. And, uh,” she said, biting her bottom lip.
“I will send Linda to take the tea. You should begin drinking it tonight.”
Glancing his way, Fyodor was smiling faintly. She felt guilty for betraying his trust without him even knowing it. But what good would it make now? Having no answers whatsoever and no information as to why and by whom she had been cursed, it wouldn’t make any sense to tell him.
“Right?”
Naavah sipped her tea while looking at his desk. She then took a few documents from the stack and began to study them while drinking her tea. She was used to organizing and indexing documents for both her teacher and Dargan, so she sought to understand the main subjects and significance of the ones she was holding in order to determine if she could be of any help.
“It’s a mess, my wife,” he said, sighing. “I have here everything you can imagine and some documents you wouldn’t possibly think of,” he continued, massaging his temples in tiredness and distress.
Nodding, she rose from her seat so that she could manipulate more documents easily. She placed each one of the papers in their categories and attempted to arrange them by date as well. Considering that older ones need a quick look and permission, she thought they should be at the top. This was a simple task for her, and she completed it quickly. Then she said,
“These ones are about knights, these are about the village, these are about the new investments, these are about the manor, these are about upcoming departures, and these are invitations.”
Fyodor's eyes widened in surprise at his wife, amazed at what she had done in just a few minutes. He then embraced her, thanking her for making his job easier. Drawing courage from his actions, she offered to take care of the invitations, thinking it would be a simple task for her and that it would help him more.
“But I don’t know which ones should we attend,” she said, looking at him with a perplexed look on her face.
“You can decide on your own. Besides, all of them are because our wedding. Everyone wants to meet the Duchess of Wintkrim,” Fyodor said, still embracing her and caressing her shoulder.
After hearing this, she felt her heartbeats fasten, and her palms begin sweating. To stop her legs from shaking, she sat down on the chair once again. She then selected the first invitation from the stack. Meeting and interacting with new people was never easy for her. Most of the time, she didn’t have a problem attending a social gathering as long as she knew she could remain silent and stay by herself in a corner without anybody approaching her. However, now everyone wanted to meet her to form an opinion about her. All of these are opportunities for people to make her feel inferior and become the focus of nasty rumors, she believed. She had never minded them personally, but since she had been married, her husband’s status was at stake.
The first invitation came from an influential Marquise family from another country, and it was for a ball two days away. When she asked Fyodor whether they should go, he felt the same way as she did and also said that it was too sudden and there were plenty of problems to deal with. So she wrote a letter apologizing for missing the event but promising a meeting in the future. The next invitation came from a Duke family that lived near their land, and it was about a tea party.
[Dear Duke of Wintkrim,
I, Duke of Flaughtes, have the pleasure of inviting you and your wife to my own wife’s tea party, which will be held on the 15th of next month. It would be a great pleasure for us if you could attend. We wish both of you a happy life together, and we are eager to meet you! Let’s meet in good health and with a good heart!
Best regards,
Nuru Flaughtes and Deliah Flaughtes]
Naavah frowned after reading the letter. She took another invitation from the pile, read it, and then took another. They were all formal, so she found the one from the Flaughtes family to be cordial. Looking back at Fyodor, who was reading a document, she wondered if they were good friends.
“Fyodor, who is Nuru Flaughtes?”
“He is a friend of mine. We were both designated to fight together in countless military campaigns. Why?”
“He sent you an invitation to his wife’s tea party. It is for both of us. Also, it is two days apart. If he is your friend, then should we attend?” she asked, feeling her throat dry and her hands beginning to tremble.
“I think so, yes. Do you want to?”
Naavah was speechless. She tried swallowing her saliva to soothe her dry throat but to no avail. She was extremely frightened by the flood of images that flashed through her mind of so many people gathered together. She was even more concerned when she realized she would be alone under the ladies’ scrutinizing gazes.
Seeing that she hadn't responded, Fyodor frowned slightly and looked more intently at her facial expression. He could see some fear in her eyes and how her face was getting pale.
‘So she is troubled. Come to think of it, Dargan said that she had not attended too many social events. But I think Deliah can ease her mind about it.’
“Let’s attend this tea party. I think my friend’s wife would be happy with your presence. She was so interested in you before the marriage,” said Fyodor smiling.
“She was… interested in me?”
“Of course! She always questioned me about you, what you like, what your daily activities are, trivial things like these.”
As far as Naavah was concerned, this was just another topic of discussion that might lead to gossip about her manners and qualifications. Therefore, she didn't take it lightly. Nevertheless, she didn't want to disappoint her husband or start another argument. So, obviously, she agreed.
