Chapter 2

The matchmaker slipped away with a sheepish look on her face.

I didn't know any of this.

All I knew was that someone from the Schwartz family had come, and I thought he was here to propose. I spent the whole day in my room, changing outfits again and again, and combing my hair in front of the mirror over and over.

By evening, my mother came to see me.

She sat by my bed, took my hand, and stayed silent for a long time.

Then she told me everything.

"Vanessa," she said, "he doesn't want to marry you. He only wants to use you. If your father doesn't agree, he won't come back."

I froze, completely at a loss.

I just couldn't accept it.

How could he be someone like that? He'd always treated me so well, so tenderly, and so full of love.

I went to find him.

I stopped his carriage in the alley behind the Schwartz family's back gate.

Triston stepped out, saw me, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Miss Talley," he said, "you shouldn't be here."

I looked into his eyes and asked, "Have you never even thought about marrying me?"

He hesitated for a heartbeat.

That pause told me everything.

"Miss Talley," he said, his voice steady and almost indifferent, as if he were commenting on the weather. "You're a good girl. But between us, it was always just... us taking what we needed from each other."

It was just us taking what we needed.

I stood there, frozen, unable to even grasp what he meant by those words.

He let out a sigh, looking at me like I was just a naive kid.

Triston said, "Miss Talley, your father is the Marquess of Everford, and your mother comes from the Grand Tutor's family. Your status matches mine, sure.

"But I'm not just looking for a wife who's a good match. I want leverage, connections—someone who can help me climb even higher."

He looked at me, and there was even a trace of pity in his eyes. "You're good. Just not good enough."

Without another word, he turned and stepped into his carriage, not sparing me a single glance.

The carriage rolled past me, leaving me standing alone in the alley, as if time had stopped and I'd become nothing but a shadow.

When I got home that night, I was burning up with a fever.

I burned with fever for three days and three nights.

When I finally woke up, my mother was sitting by my bed, her eyes so swollen from crying she could barely open them.

"Vanessa," she said, "it's all over now."

I nodded.

But I knew, deep down, it was far from over.

The very next day, Triston was on his knees outside the Gate of Grace, begging to abandon worldly ties altogether.

The whole city was buzzing. Triston would rather spend the rest of his life in monastic devotion than marry me.

I became the laughingstock of Caelestara City.

*****

Two years later, in the autumn of the fifth regnal year, something big happened.

The Schwartz family was brought down.

They were accused of treason—collaborating with the Northern Tribes.

Word spread that letters were found linking them to the enemy, that Miguel Schwartz, the head of the Schwartz family, had already confessed in prison, and that the whole Schwartz clan was facing execution.

Overnight, that once-glorious noble house—famous for producing three top officials in one generation—became public enemy number one, the target of everyone's wrath.

My father sat in his study all night, not moving an inch.

Early the next morning, he called me in.

"Vanessa," he said, "what's your take on the Schwartz family's downfall?"

I said, "I don't believe it."

My father looked at me, his gaze layered with something I couldn't quite read. "Why not?"

"The Schwartz family has been loyal for three generations, and Miguel Schwartz served two Kings with unwavering integrity. And Triston..." I paused. "He may have let me down, but he's not someone who would betray his country."

My father sat in silence for a long while.

Then he said, "I don't believe it either."

He slid a stack of letters across the desk to me. "This is news from the Northern Tribes. The real traitor is Cullen."

I was left speechless.

Cullen was the very man Triston once wanted my father to maneuver against. Now, he was the most powerful figure in the Cabinet, with the whole court in the palm of his hand.

"He wants to destroy the Schwartz family because they're the only ones he truly fears," my father said. "These letters are fakes, but I have no proof. In two weeks, the entire Schwartz family—over three hundred souls—will be put to death."

He looked me right in the eye. "Vanessa, do you dare to take a gamble?"

I asked, "What's the gamble?"

"Bet that you'll find the proof. Bet that you'll save the Schwartz family," Dad said.

I sat there in silence for a long while.

I thought of Triston, standing in that alley, telling me I was not good enough.

I remembered his carriage passing me by, how everyone in Caelestara City mocked me, the night I was delirious with fever, and my mother's eyes swollen from crying.

Then I said, "Alright."

My father was stunned. "Vanessa, are you sure about this? That's the Schwartz family, the ones who let you down."

I said, "I know."

Dad said, "If you save them, no one will praise you for being gracious. They'll just call you cheap. They'll say Vanessa can't get over Triston and is shamelessly chasing after him."