"Why did you not marry Lady Alma?"

"Are you jealous?" he smiled leaning into his seat. We were on our way back to my house, in the carriage. The Duke had said nothing as he helped me up the carriage and my face was still red from the embarrassment. And I was quite annoyed in favor of picking a fight.

If this was going to be an engagement he would be breaking off anyway, I should just hurry up and get him to do it. I doubt I could handle embarrassment on this scale on a regular basis.

"I'm not."

"Have you had the pleasure of meeting Lady Alma?" he asked, folding his palms and leaning forward.

"Not that I recall."

I had spent most of my time in my father's country estate, and this was my first time coming to Orira. Since my mother's attempts primarily revolved around finding a match for me I was rather unacquainted with the ladies. He pressed his lips together and said,

"Well, for one, Lady Alma is deeply in love with a priest-in-training who as you know is required to be under a vow of eternal celibacy."

My jaw dropped.

I looked at him to explain further, but he just leaned back into his chair, as if waiting for the information to sink in.

"Well," I started, "There are other eligible young ladies who are better suited to be a Duchess, Your Grace."

This was probably my chance is learning about his motives. I swallowed preparing myself to hear his response. The sooner I knew how likely he was to break off the engagement, the better I could make my arrangements to find another match.

"Perhaps," he admitted. "But I intend to love you."

"Your Grace, we have barely met four times -" I started but he held up his hand and I sunk into my seat.

"It doesn't matter how many times we have met or how many hours we have spent in each other's company. All I am sure of is that I intend to marry you and love you."

"So you do not think of me as the love of your life, Your Grace," I said, feeling my cheeks growing warm.

"I did not intend to allow my fiancée to be humiliated in such a fashion. Although I expected the Queen Regent to throw a tantrum, I expected her rage to be directed at me." He didn't appear to be distraught or angry at what had happened, he sounded more as if it was a minor distasteful inconvenience.

"But you lied to the Queen Regent, Your Grace," I lowered my head.

"Something like love is not verifiable." he smiled. "For all intents and purposes, I love you and you love me, and we are to get married before the year comes to an end."

"Why such a long engagement period?" I asked.

It seemed to be a trend to marry within the season's end, so I was not entirely sure why he wanted to wait when he had no intention of waiting by having already announced the engagement. He offered his hand and I took it, he softly ran a finger over where my engagement ring and then my wedding ring would be and said,

"I would like to have you live with me in Lurris for a while, and if there should be anything there that did not suit your tastes, I wish for you to change it to suit you. And should you choose to change your mind about marriage, you would be welcome to."

I stared at him, half realizing my mouth had fallen open.

"Aelis?"

His voice was much softer and he had a strangely boyish expression on his face. It was hard to forget that he was just twenty-three years old. I forced myself to close my mouth and I tried to smile,

"You are being very generous, Your Grace,"

"I'd rather not have you plot to murder me in the future," he grinned.

It was not unheard of for families in Ochalis to send out their daughters to the homes of their betrothed for a trial marriage testing compatibilities but it was a practice that was heavily frowned upon for the last few hundred years after the establishment of The Grand Unending Temple.

"What if you change your mind, Your Grace?" I asked, "Will you kick me out of Lurris with humiliation?"

A slow dread settled into my heart as multiple thoughts flung into my brain, each trying to scream and take the lead, and my breathing got shallower.

"Of course not," he said, "I will make sure not to hamper your reputation and I will leave you with a tidy sum in case you need to support yourself."

He was asking for a lot.

At first glance, his proposal gave him far more benefits than it gave me. I would be isolated in a place that was not familiar to me, with an estate that worked only for him and with almost no authority for me to wield. I stilled my brain and sighed. His handsome face was still, as he read my face to glean my thoughts.

"I need to think about this, Your Grace," I said. "Please give me a few days to discuss it,"

"I understand," he withdrew his hand, and the carriage halted. "I will be waiting for your word,"

"Thank you, Your Grace,"

The staff member tapped on our window and opened the door to help me out. The sky was starting to turn pink as I entered my house knowing I'll have to discuss these terms with my parents, without the expertise of fancy lawyers.