After leaving the tailor, they went directly to the carriage, which her fiancé seemed very happy about.
The shopping and fitting had probably exhausted him quite a bit, since he even fell asleep on the ride. It was fascinating how much strength and energy a man could muster in sword training, but was directly exhausted from a little shopping.
They finally arrived back at the estate, it was already early evening.
The carriage stopped, but the Grand Duke was still asleep. Then the door was opened by Ramas, he extended his hand to her to get out. "The Grand Duke is a little tired, would you take care of him?"
"Of course, Lady Celia. You may go ahead and change for dinner."
Nodding her thanks, she proceeded as Ramas suggested.
+++
When the Grand Duke woke up, he stretched a bit at first. As soon as he caught sight of Ramas, however, he stopped mid-motion. "I'm pretty sure my fiancée was better looking."
"That hurts, Your Grace," Ramas replied dryly.
"Have I been asleep the whole trip?" Sighing, he rubbed his temples as he looked at his secretary.
Ramas nodded. "It seems that was the case. Lady Celia has already gone ahead. I have been instructed to take care of you."
"Excellent, the day could hardly have ended worse." Resigned, Alek sat back, but Ramas' curiosity seemed piqued. "So you ruined the day afterall?" He said it as if he had already expected it, so he received a nasty look from Alek in return.
"It was all that awful maid's fault. I'm sure she gave me the wrong advice on purpose."
Ramas pondered. "Do you mean Lady Celia's former maid? What was she doing at the palace? Does she know the King?"
"You'd better ask if she knows my aunt. In any case, she advised me to buy Celia expensive things to apologize to her." Such a lying little snake.
"And you actually believed that was true?" His secretary looked at him incredulously.
"How could I have known she wouldn't like that?" cried Alek angrily.
Ramas shrugged his shoulders. "By asking her?"
The grand duke was silent for a moment and then got up to leave the carriage. Stupid know-it-all.
Outside, however, he turned back briefly, as an idea had occurred to him. "Ramas, I have an important task for you."
His secretary also left the carriage and raised his eyebrows. "Why do these words give me such a bad feeling right away?"
+++
"And then he didn't even ask me what I wanted to do." As soon as Celia entered her chambers, she began to complain in front of her maids.
Dina and Elin did not hold back with their snubs, and even Jannah shook her head disapprovingly. "Men with money just don't know what a lady's heart truly desires."
"Our Lady Celia is such an elegant lady and so modest, someone like her enjoys beautiful flowers more than sparkling gems. Anyone who has spoken to her even once knows that," Elin exclaimed, and Dina agreed. "Which he would know, too, had he cared more for her."
The maids got so into it that Celia's anger almost fizzled out and she suddenly had to start laughing. At first the maids looked at her in surprise, but then they joined in.
This must be what it felt like when others genuinely cared about you.
Lora had taken good care of her too, but she had always been more reserved. Still, she had hoped her gruff maid would change her mind and come to the Grand Dukes estate.
There was a knock at the door and Jannah went to open it. It was Ramas, who came to escort her to dinner. She hadn't realized how much time had passed. Celia took his arm and they strolled down the hall.
"So how was your stay with the King?"
Celia pondered. "Very interesting. He wanted me to call him uncle."
The secretary nodded thoughtfully. "He seems to like you very much."
"I had the same feeling. Though I'm still not sure how I earned his favor."
Ramas stopped and looked at her seriously. "Lady Celia, you are the future Grand Duchess. Never doubt yourself, by doing so you make yourself vulnerable to others who will not be well disposed towards you. By that I don't just mean men like your father."
"You mean I should also beware of the ladies of society?"
"In my eyes, they are the real challenge. You will find that out soon enough when you receive your first invitations to tea. It will not please everyone to hear that the Grand Duke is engaged."
They continued on their way and Celia immediately had to think of one person. "Do you mean the Princess in particular?"
"You've already met her?" that seemed to surprise Ramas.
"Alek met with the Queen and I was going to walk in the garden as long as he did. There I met her. She had an elegance I've never seen before."
They reached the dining room and Ramas pushed her chair into place. As already expected, the Grand Duke was not present.
"But Lady Celia, was the Princess ... kind to you?"
Celia smiled gently. "After learning that I was her cousin's fiancée, there was some reluctance. Perfectly understandable for a young woman that found out that her secret crush was going to marry someone else."
"Well, it's not that big of a secret," the secretary muttered, shaking his head. "I really thought you would have a worse first impression of the Princess."
"How could I! She looks like an angel, you just have to forgive such a beautiful person for everything."
Ramas was silent for a moment. "Forgive me for asking Lady Celia ... but your admiration towards beautiful people is not limited to men, can it be?"
Celia blushed slightly at this question. "Well, it's like art, when something is particularly beautiful, you just have to admire it."
"Then you admire the princess and the Grand Duke equally? Does this mean you would also forgive the Grand Duke any fault?"
"Well, I ... one moment." Celia looked at Ramas with narrowed eyes. "Did the Grand Duke tell you to ask me that?"
The secretary looked aside, embarrassed. "I don't know what you mean by that."
He couldn't have picked a worse spy.
The first course was served and Celia just tilted her head with a smile. "Well, if you don't know what I'm talking about, I have nothing else to say. However, if you do know what I'm talking about, you'll surely tell my fiancé something for me."