"You look beautiful, Your Grace."
Nora examined herself in the mirror, cheek in hand, as she propped herself on the vanity.
Eyes reminiscent of liquid gold blinked back at her, milky white skin and an oval face framed by moonlight-silver hair. A shimmery, baby blue shawl draped over her shoulders, and a thin white dress gave her a doll-like appearance.
The only thing that brought the image of the beautiful woman to a screeching halt was the almost ghastly paleness of her skin and the thinness of her face that revealed her sickly disposition.
Eleanora Dawn had always been a sickly child, and it got no better as she aged. She still fell sick at the slightest breeze of wind and relied heavily on a constant supply of medicinal teas.
Her parents, the previous Duke and Duchess, had always worried about her for that reason.
An unmarried woman was a woman without respect, but it was impossible for the overprotective Duke and Duchess to allow her to marry elsewhere. They worried that if their daughter married into another noble household, she would be mistreated by her in-laws and treated as a burden.
Their solution was simple: recruit a son-in-law. This way, there would be no doubts about Eleanora's well-being. While this went against the societal norm and garnered the prestigious Dawn family much scrutiny, their love of their only child was publicly unparalleled.
This was a golden opportunity for second-born sons who would not inherit the family title to gain a better title with little to no effort. Countless suitors vied for Eleanora's hand in marriage, but the criteria were extremely strict, and there were barely a handful of men who fit the bill.
Her husband, Caspian, was perfect. He was the second son of the Northern Duke and possessed an impressive background as a royal knight.
In the first year of their marriage, they genuinely adored Caspian, who was the embodiment of the perfect husband. He was handsome, attentive, and extremely caring of her. There was not a single flaw to speak of when it came to her husband.
But when her parents passed away in a tragic accident, that picture-perfect husband began to disappear gradually. He became less attentive and began visiting her less, using his work as an excuse. Soon, they went from newlywed lovers attached at the hip to strangers who lived in the same home.
At first, this was something that did not bother Nora.
Nobles usually married more out of obligation than true love, and she couldn't exactly fault Caspian for finding it difficult to love his sick wife. Her mother and father's marriage was arranged as well, and they eventually fell in love, so Nora believed the same thing would apply to herself.
But..
"Ruth, can you see this?" Eleanora lightly picked up the book to her left.
The maidservant leaned forward, "A book?"
Nora rolled her eyes. "Yes, but can you read it? Do you know what the cover says?"
Ruth squinted her eyes. Then she shook her head and shrugged, "I've no clue. If you know what language it's written in, I can find a translator for you, Your Grace."
"No need." Nora waved her away. Her fingers gingerly traced over the foreign words on the book's cover. It was clearly a language that she and everyone else had never seen before and had no knowledge of, yet she could read it perfectly.
The title read: Stay Away From My Mommy, Regretful Duke!
It was a terrible title with even worse content inside. It was a romance book with her husband, Caspian, as the male lead, but she was not the female lead. The worst part was that she was actually a villain in the love story of her husband and another woman!
The story went that Caspian, on one of his trips back to his mother's hometown, ran into his first love, Lacey, whom he believed to be dead for the past five years. Lacey had a four-year-old son who was nearly identical to Caspian, and it wasn't hard for him to put the pieces together.
Caspian then begs Lacey to come back to live in the ducal mansion with him so that he can get to know his son, and she obliges. To avoid suspicion, Lacey is hired as Caspian's personal servant and allowed to live in the servant room that connects to the master's quarters.
In the story, Eleanora is written as an ugly, bitter woman who forces Caspian into a marriage with her and does everything in her power to drive out Lacey and her child because of her jealousy. As an answer to all her evildoings, her character succumbs to her sickness, and the main characters get their happy ending.
Nora took a closer look in the mirror and huffed. In what world was she considered ugly?
Though, she couldn't say that she completely believed such nonsense. Not only did the book appear out of nowhere and could not be read by anyone but her, but it was hard to believe that Caspian would betray her in such a bold manner.
If the book were true, Caspian would accuse her, his wife, of standing in the way of his true love. He would treat her as a burden and lock her away in her own home whenever she so dared to go against his mistress, treating himself as the absolute master of the Dawn family.
He would use his connections as the Dawn family's Duke to adopt his own bastard child and give his mistress enough power and support to contend with his actual wife, completely forgetting the fact that everything the two of them had was because of her.
It was simply outlandish. But something in her heart did not allow her to dissolve the gnawing fear that it may be true.
This was the reason why, despite the frail state of her body, she would leave her room for the first time in a long while and greet her husband when he returned.
If the book was accurate, today was the day Caspian would return with his former lover and secret child in tow.
A soft knock at the door.
Lillian, a young maid with chestnut hair, poked her head through the door. "The Duke's personnel has sent word ahead that he will arrive soon. He should arrive at the main house in half an hour."
"Thank you, Lillian," Nora turned her body away from the vanity. "Did he happen to mention if he was bringing anyone along?"
A puzzled expression swept the young maid's features. "How did you know? The Duke's childhood nanny is old and frail, and His Grace wishes to bring her back so that he may ensure her comfort in her last days. He sent a warning so that you avoid running into her lest you become sick."
He was bringing back his childhood nanny? How coincidental.
"Very well," Nora nodded and gestured for the two maids to accompany her down the hall.
Ruth wrung her hands nervously as she fell into step with the Duchess. "Your Grace, is there a reason you decided to greet the Duke today personally? His Grace is very understanding and knows your condition well; you don't need to push yourself."
"That's right, he even warned you about his nanny and worried you might fall sick. He has never held your lack of greeting against you."
"That may be true, but I am still the Lady of the house. It's only natural that I greet my husband on his return from the Capital. You all worry too much, I'm not a glass doll." Nora could feel their worried gazes penetrating her skin, but she only shook her head. This was something she had to confirm personally, something she had to see with her own eyes.
Half an hour later, Eleanora stood outside, in front of the main house. Ruth and Lillian flanked her sides, wordlessly exchanging worried glances with one another every time she so much as exhaled too deeply.
"Ah, Your Grace, I believe I see them," Lillian said, and soon enough, the elegant carriage of the Dawn family came into view.
Nora's fingers unconsciously tightened the shawl around her frail shoulders. She didn't want to admit it, but she was fearful the book would be true. What would that mean for her? For their marriage?
Caspian was the first to depart from the carriage.
"Nora," He called out as he took long strides towards her and grasped her shoulders tightly. His handsome features twisted with worry as he stared down at her. "Why are you out here? Did my men not relay my message in time?"
The worry in his eyes gave Nora's heart some relief.
See, Caspian may have become distant lately, but he was not the cold-hearted, two-timing scum from the novel she had read. He would never abandon her in favor of a white moonlight. How could she even entertain such a ridiculous thought?
"Don't find fault with them. I missed you, Caspian. Can't a wife greet her husband upon his return?" Nora smiled gently, raising her hand to touch his cheek.
Caspian's eyes widened slightly before he settled into an easy smile, "I missed you as well, Nora. But I know the state of your body, I don't want you to push yourself doing meaningless things. I would've visited you first thing."
"That's not the same. Besides," her eyes drifted behind him, back to the line of elegant carriages that had begun to unload. "I wanted to meet the woman who raised you when you were young. Is she in the carriage still?"
Upon mention of the nanny, Caspian's easy smile fell. "That…she's very sick. I don't think meeting her with your disposition would be a good idea."
Nora frowned, "You sound like Ruth and Lillian. I am not that sickly, I can meet your nanny for a brief moment."
"Nora," Caspian's voice was firmer this time, and so was the grip of his hands on her shoulders. "I am not taking any chances with your health. Be obedient, and don't seek her out in the future when I'm not around, alright?"
"…Alright."
It was better to just give in in instances like this. Besides, hadn't she already confirmed that the book was wrong? In the book, Caspian exits the carriage carrying the boy, but he had come right up to her, and there was no one else in sight.
She didn't know where the book had come from, but she would no longer waste any time fretting over it.
The grip loosened. "Good, now let me walk you inside. Really, Ruth, don't just give in to her every whim. She shouldn't be standing outside like this."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Nora's heart was warm. How could a man who worried over her health like this be a wolf in sheep's clothing?
As Caspian led Nora up the stairs, she glanced back to the carriage a final time. For a second, she could have sworn that she had seen a young boy staring back at her from the carriage's window.
An exact replica of her husband.