Perfect Candidate

"Are you sure you cannot stay for Florence's birthday, Lord Zahl?" Lina asked.

"I am afraid there is so much to take care of before we start mining."

"Well, it was delightful to have you over for the past few days."

"It was an honor, my lady." Elias bowed. "Lady Kalwen." He turned to Florence and kissed her hand.

"Have a safe trip, Lord Zahl." Florence gave him a half smile.

Her nonchalant attitude surprised her brother. He eyed her with curiosity. He knew that she was stubborn and would not listen to him just because he asked her to stay away. But ever since that first dinner they had with Elias, she did not flirt or encourage his friend any longer.

On the other hand, Florence did not even notice her coldness, or her brother's stares. She was preoccupied with something else, something more important. She was waiting for Rilla to return from the guild with the list of bachelors she had requested.

"Might take a while with all the bureaucracy, but I will notify you as soon as we are ready to start mining," Elias told Richard as he boarded the carriage.

"I will see you then. Safe travels." Richard nodded to his friend.

As soon the carriage left, Florence hurried to her room. She waited for her maid on pins and needles. She was so anxious that her stomach hurt.

It was already down to two weeks before her birthday ball, and she still needed to find candidates and figure out how to meet them before her party. She knew the chances of finding someone before then were very slim, but she could not just submit to her mother's insensitive decision.

"My lady." Rilla finally arrived.

"Oh my goodness, what took you so long?" Florence rushed to her and took the large envelope she was holding.

"I apologize, my lady. The market was too crowded."

Florence did not really hear her. She was already going through the papers. Each page had the name and title of a noble man, in addition to his likeness. As she leafed through, the hopes that she had built over the past few days started to crumble.

She spread the papers on her bed and looked at them, pensive. There were about thirty of them. Rilla stepped closer to take a look as well.

"First, let's get rid of the ones who are fifteen years older than me or more, I refuse to marry someone who is almost double my age." Florence started to gather one page after the other. "Is that Lord Webber? My goodness, he is two and sixty years-old." She yanked his page violently.

"We did not specify the age, my lady."

"I know." Florence sighed.

Rilla took the paper to be discarded from Florence's hands. The latter's eyes roamed around the profiles again.

"And the ones who are younger." She grabbed three more pages and handed them to her maid.

They both looked at the papers left on the bed. They were down to half. Florence threw Rilla a worried look.

"Can we eliminate the unattractive ones? A bit shallow, I know, but can I not marry someone I am physically attracted to?"

"I think that is a valid point, my lady."

Florence started giving her maid more papers, and the list was decreasing awfully fast.

"Oh my, this man's eyes look dangerous, Marquis Galley," Rilla read one of the papers that was discarded. "He looks like a pervert."

Florence chuckled. "Well, good thing he is not a candidate anymore."

"What a handsome bunch." Rilla joked when she looked at the pages left on the bed.

"I agree." Florence grinned.

"But my lady, should you not eliminate Lord Zahl? You said he was bad news."

"Ah, damn it." Florence bit her bottom lip. She had almost forgotten. "I need to get rid of all of my brother's friends on the list." She sighed.

'If they are anything like Lord Elias, then there is no point in keeping them. Even Rick said they were not ready for marriage.'

Florence looked closer at the few papers left on the bed. "Lord Zahl." She picked up his paper. "Earl Schmidt, I know they went to the academy together." She grabbed another paper, then another one. "Viscount Bauer."

"What a shame, he is the most handsome out of all of them." Rilla pouted.

Florence agreed. She sighed again. Then, she picked up another paper. "Lord Flock."

There were only two pages left on the bed. Florence pressed her lips into a thin line. "Are you telling me that out of all the bachelor nobles in the kingdom, these are my only two choices?" She took the papers and looked at them. "Earl Rupert Toth, Viscount Otis Nagy. I have never met either."

"Well, maybe one of them is your destined husband, my lady."

Rilla's words did not make Florence feel any better. She did not understand why she had to go through this anyway. Why was her mother forcing her into it? She had always dreamt of falling in love first, then marrying the man of her dreams.

'What is the point of getting married if happiness is not the goal?'

"I would like to be alone, please." Florence sounded tired.

"Yes, my lady." Rilla gathered the discarded papers and left her mistress who was already lying on the bed.

She walked to the back of the house, where the servants entrance was, and where the garbage bins were. She tore the papers in half and threw them away. Little did she know that she was being watched from the kitchen window.

As soon as she left, Willa rushed to the bin and dug through the trash for the papers. She took them to her room and glued them back together. She made sure they were presentable before she brought them straight to her mistress.

"My lady, I have found something that might interest you."

"What is it, Willa?" the countess dowager asked as she extended her hand.

"Lady Florence's maid threw these away."

Lina looked through the papers, her face slowly lighting up. "Oh my, this is interesting indeed." She looked closely at one of the profiles with a grin. "Willa, get my paper and quill, I need to send an invitation to this man at once."

'He is the perfect candidate.'