'Kissed who, duchess?'

Aside from a number of knights, there was a total of three carriages carrying House Florence's flag treading the roads from Osmea to the Capital, and one from House Clement. The first one was for Oswyn and Vance, the one in the middle was used by the duchess and her ladies-in-waiting, then the last one carried their luggage. Alexander was riding in front with two of his knights plus Jyver, and a few of Amelia's own knights, while Ancel's beside the duchess' carriage.

Barrett and the remainder of Alexander's knights were at the back where the duke's carriage with Symon inside was. It was nearing the end of the year and with the decrease of temperature as of late, there was really nothing to see aside from bare farmlands, so Christa and Constance ended up dozing off.

"You seem to be in deep thought. Is the celebration at Kearndal Palace bothering you still?" Laila asked in a whisper so as to not disturb the other ladies.

"I don't know what to think lately," Amelia sighed and confessed easily.

Laila has always been the quiet one of them all. She has her moments and she's younger than her, but Amelia thinks she's the most perceptive.

"When I remembered being with Alexander at the cabin, I was so dumbfounded that I couldn't say a word. I didn't feel anything special too."

"We're you expecting to feel something special?"

"I guess I am. I mean, I've been dreaming about my time at the cabin and the boy I was with there, so I thought that if I finally remember and meet him, I'd feel so elated that I'd want to thank him for saving my life and maybe get to know him..."

"I sense a but coming."

"But looking at him that night, all I could feel was disappointment. I know that Uncle knew, Lady Leticia knew too because she asked me about it before. For sure Uncle Vernon and the Mulford Brothers knew, as well. Aside from my disappointment, I felt betrayed. Not by those that I mentioned. I know that they have their own reasons—"

"But…" Laila coaxed.

"I felt betrayed by Alexander because he knew yet he didn't tell me. Ever since my birthday, I've been thinking, what would've been different if he just told me from the start instead of beating around the bush? I know he has his reasons but still… though I felt betrayed, last night… I…" 

"Last night you what, duchess?" Laila leaned closer when Amelia stayed quiet with her head lowered.

"I…" her voice trembled, and her cheeks warmed. Scenes about what transpired between her, and the duke played in her head repeatedly, especially the moment when she said, 'kiss me'. She didn't know what kind of spirit possessed her or if she ate something bad, but she said it—and she meant it, but he rejected her!

Amelia curled from her seat, both her hands covering her head. If possible, she would very much like to dig up a hole, crawl in it, and stay there for a very—very—long time until she doesn't feel anything about it anymore.

She asked for a kiss, and he rejected her! The words 'kiss' and 'reject' circled her mind until she couldn't take it anymore and her head burst. She let out a scream which surprised the coachman who immediately pulled the reigns leading to Constance and Christa falling from their seats at the sudden stop.

Horses neighed outside followed by hooves hitting the ground in quick successions. Ancel forced the door open and saw three frantic ladies-in-waiting trying to make their duchess appear presentable.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked in confusion. "Who shouted and why is the duchess' hair in disarray?" he asked as he noted Amelia's hair all over the place as if she's been pulling hair with someone.

The duchess avoided Ancel's eyes, and the ladies gave out an awkward laugh as an answer, then just when Amelia lifted her head to face her knight, like a beaming light from the Heavens, with all his gloriousness, amber eyes, and chiseled jaw, Alexander appeared behind him. She didn't look at him properly earlier because she was too busy trying to erase 'that' memory from her mind, but he looked exceptionally handsome today.

"Cice? What's wro—" The duke couldn't finish his sentence when Amelia scrammed from her seat and slammed the door shut.

"I'm fine," she said with a faint voice. "Le-let's leave. It will be dark soon!" her voice rose a pitch higher. The carriage rocked and the ladies can be heard making a fuss inside.

Inside, Amelia was bombarded with plenty of questions to last her the whole trip to the Capital. Not only was she asked—she was interrogated! And the deeper the questions went, the more she realized how she made a fool out of herself.

-----

"What was the commotion about yesterday?" Oswyn asked the moment they stepped inside her manor in Casler. 

"Don't you have some luggage you have to attend to?" Amelia said, annoyed. She didn't have a wink of sleep last night because she's been thinking about the duke that was on the other side of her room. Aside from that, Vance sent a letter saying that his transaction with Beauchant ended up longer than expected so he'll just meet with her at the Capital, but it's already two hours after noon and he hasn't showed up yet.

"The servants volunteered to bring it to our quarters, so as your aide, I thought I'd accompany you."

"I want to be alone for now and rest. Tell the others to have this time to rest too." She said as she walked faster, leaving Oswyn behind, and shutting the door behind him.

Alone at last, Amelia untangled the ribbon of her dress and flopped on her bed. There's still a lot of things she needs to think of for the Gathering, but her brain stopped working since yesterday. 

"Duchess?" Christa peeked through the small door opening. "Can I come in? I knocked but there was no answer, and the door was open."

"Ah, Christa. Yes, come in." the duchess forced herself to sit.

"I apologize for disturbing your rest, but a box came from the royal palace addressed to you. The duke already checked the contents and told me to bring it to you."

"Hmm? Alexander did?" Amelia couldn't help but squint her eyes since she almost fell asleep.

"Yes," Christa placed the box beside Amelia on the bed. "I found him wandering about in the garden. He told me to always check anything bigger than a fist for security reasons." 

If Alexander approved, then there shouldn't be anything Amelia should be worried about. With a nod, the took the box and placed it on her lap. The ribbon has already been undone and folded so she placed that back on the bed.

"What did the duke say when he opened this?" Amelia asked because inside were beautifully placed flowers that were not of season. It didn't have a note, or anything attached to it but it clearly looked something from the imperial palace, so it piqued Amelia's curiosity.

"Well…" Christa paused, "he looked like he would be happy to stomp on it then burn it."

The duchess stifled a giggle, 'That's so like him,' she thought.

"Maybe it's from the Crown Prince? The box is a little different from the ones I've seen the majesty uses." Christa suggested.

It's true that the box really was different than the one used for the tiara, and that tiara's been delivered to her a few times because she kept on giving it back. And she's seen these flowers before. She just can't put a finger on it.

After that, Christa asked the duchess if she wanted to have it displayed but Amelia didn't want anything to do with the emperor or anyone from his family. The least she wants right now is for rumors to spread even more. It's already enough that she's being suspected as someone the emperor wants to marry or that the emperor greatly favors House Florence because he's trying to win her hand.

When Christa left, Amelia laid down again. Rather than think about the emperor, she would rather think of her grandfather. Since the invitation for the Gathering came last minute, she didn't have a proper talk with Vance and he's always been out, meeting who's who. Every minute that her grandfather spends out of her sight, the anxiety in her heart grew. With these thoughts always floating in her mind, she always felt tired; always yawning. And this time wasn't an exception as the soft mattress swallowed her and lulled her to sleep.

-----

It was already midafternoon when Amelia woke up. The first thing she did was ask one of the knights guarding her door to let the servants know that she wants to take a bath. One obliged and minutes after, a knock took the duchess attention and when it opened her ladies-in-waiting bowed their heads. Behind them were the servants she asked for.

"Would you like to eat something? I already told the butler that you might want to eat." It was Constance who spoke.

"I'm not that hungry yet. By the way, did Uncle arrived already?"

"Not yet, duchess." Amelia nodded and forced a small smile. She can't feel like this for so long, eventually, she must accept whatever decision her grandfather makes.

But does that decision have to come so soon?

After the small talk, Constance and the others helped Amelia out of her old dress and into another after she had a refreshing bath. After that, she went out of her room and saw Oswyn. He said he had been waiting by the stairs for her to come out.

"Do you have something important to tell me?" Amelia asked coldly, which her new aide replied with a beam.

"It's my duty to accompany you at all costs."

"Do you see Mr. Vance tailing me every minute of his life?"

"Well, no. But I'm new, so I'm still trying to learn the ropes here and there. I'd better learn about your ways in order to better serve you." He looked like a puppy wagging his tail for the next command.

"As long as you keep your mouth shut the whole time," she said, and Oswyn pretended to zip his mouth and lock it.

While waiting for darkness to dominate the skies, Amelia and the others strolled around the manor until it was only her and Oswyn left since her ladies-in-waiting were one by one called for something. Alone with her new aide, who, in Amelia's surprise, only answered in short sentences but she would always see him smile at her when their gazes crossed.

Tired of walking around, Amelia led the way to the library. She came across it when she was last here after coming from Aclador. She only had a fleeting time to look around then, so she thought it would be where it's best to spend the rest of her time. Not long after both found a book interesting enough, the duchess and Oswyn found themselves engrossed in their books to even give any sort of attention to each other.

The rest of Amelia's afternoon was uneventful until Christa came to the library to informed them that dinner will be served shortly.

"Duke Clement and Mr. Symon is already at the dining hall waiting, your grace."

Yes. Of course. She was the one who suggested that Alexander stay in her manor for the Gathering. The afternoon had been peaceful thus far that she completely forgot about the duke and her possibly drunk self last night asking for a ki—Amelia let out an awkward laugh. She saw Christa and Oswyn's mouths moved but she didn't hear a word they said. She even returned the book on the shelf upside down that Oswyn had to correct it.

  "I heard last night that someone miss—"

"Someone kissed who?" Amelia's ears perked and she was quick to grab Christa's wrist.

"Kissed who, duchess?" both Oswyn and Christa looked at her with their brows arched.

"Kiss, you said something about someone wanting to kiss…"

"I said miss. Someone missed their opportunity to introduce themselves to Sybil because she was like a beautiful butterfly visiting flower after flower."

"Oh, you mean… yes. You meant that…Yes, yes. Of course." Amelia showed a small smile then quickly averted her eyes. Her steps quicker that the latter, leaving Christa and Oswyn questioning and eager to know more why she's acting so clumsy and weird since they left Osmea.