Despite the wide variety of food that had been set on the table Dario only had a scone and some coffe. He did not have much of an appetite.
"So tell me" Wilfred who had taken a seat across from him casually blew on his tea. "Why'd you disobey my order and betray my long built up trust for you?"
Dario did not respond to the obviously underhanded question and at the lack of an answer Wilfred leaned forward in his seat and smiled mischievously.
"She must be really pretty for you to act like that"
Dario sighed, getting increasingly annoyed by the conversation. "Can we please get to the point? The longer I stay in the capital the more my work will be piling up. You if anyone would not want me to fall behind, am I wrong?".
"Gosh, so impatient. Very well, tell me your reasoning for sparing the girl".
"It's obvious that she had nothing to do with her family's corruption. It rather looked like she had been severely abused by those people. She has no influence amongst nobility so there is no way for her to undermine your right to the throne, hence I believe that it would not cause you any harm if you kept her alive."
Wilfred flashed a smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
"I could do that, but wouldn't that undermine my position as a ruler? If not even my closest aide my orders then who would? Furthermore such an action would send my subjects the message that I don't follow through on my word."
Dario frowned. What the king was saying was true and he could not think of a convincing counterarguement.
"But…" Wilfred unexpectedly continued "what if I, as the graceful ruler that I am, gifted my close friend a bride for his faithful services to me?"
Dario's throat suddenly felt dry. Amelia, as a duchess?
High society was a ruthless scene where the smallest mistake one made was heavily scrutinized and the work one had to do as a noble was neverending. Amelia was an illegitimate child that had not yet had her social debut, so the critisism towards her would be likely be severe and if she did not carry his child within the first year of marriage the scrutiny she faced would only get worse.
If that was not bad enough for someone who had already been abused Amelia would also be under the constant threat of assassination as the wife of a front figure in the civil war. Dario could not force her into any of that.
"She is not suitable to be a duchess" he stated as he clenshed the coffecup between his palms.
"I see. Then if you don't want her I'd like to have her. I've been getting bored of Madelene lately, and since you've shown interest in the Ainsworth girl she must be someone quite extraordinary."
It was becoming difficult for Dario to keep his composure. There was no way he would allow that scumbag of a man to ever meet Amelia.
"Who said that I don't want her? Just because I don't want her as my wife does not mean that I don't desire her." He put his utmost effort into making the words come across as convincing.
The king simply sipped on his coffe with an amused smile playing on his lips. "I see. Then I'll be looking forward to hear of how it goes." The meaning behind the statement was obvious to Dario: the king would be keeping close tabs on him.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Since I have yet to fill the vacant spots of the nobles that have been executed I have to prepare for the trip home so I ask of you to excuse me. There's a lot of work waiting for me"
"Very well. You're dismissed."
After much preparation long into the night Dario and his men began the journey back home at dawn the following morning. He had barely gotten any sleep as he had kept thinking of the predicament he had ended up in.
The selfless solution to the problem would be to simply send Amelia away with a large sum of money and a personal guard. He could bear the consequences. But Dario was not a selfless man and could not let her go after just finding out that she was still alive.
A few months; he would keep her at his estate for just a few months. Then he would tell the king that she had angered him and that he had killed her,. That way she would be able to secretely travel to a small neighboring town and live however she wished to.