Timid and Shy - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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19.

Prince Frederick had escorted Isabel at the Debutante Ball, and their dynamic had been so agreeable that everyone speculated there might be a marriage between the Prince and the Wiscom Family.
Then, quite suddenly, Prince Frederick announced his engagement to Parma Garrys.
At Parma’s birthday party, Prince Frederick had even performed a piece for her himself along with presenting a gift, and of course he had served as her escort and danced with her.
Until then, people had assumed Frederick had done for Parma what he’d done for Isabel—performed these courtesies to strike a political balance between the two ducal houses.
Yet less than a month after Parma Garrys’s birthday party, the announcement came: Prince Frederick and Parma were engaged.
The Empress and Duke Garrys had originally planned to announce the engagement at Parma’s birthday celebration.
But Frederick had stubbornly refused to commit to any engagement until he met Parma in person, so the announcement had been delayed.
The Wiscom Family had received a crushing blow from the Empress, exactly as Robert had wanted. Reading the letter, Sophia smiled, and Ellie felt vindicated for having merely forwarded Helen’s correspondence without delivering the news herself.
Sophia shared the news with Baron Ariel as well. Above all else, Sophia’s thoughts turned to the money in the Velvet Pouch.
“I can use it now, can’t I? The command came to spend it.”
Baron Ariel smiled in reply.
“Damn Wiscom. Still a long way to go.”

***

The Duke of Wiscom paced in his study while the Duchess of Wiscom, her eyes never leaving him, spoke to Philip instead.
“Where is Isabel?”
Philip answered with a flat tone.
“In her room, I’d imagine. She seems to hate seeing my face.”
“Her pride has taken quite a blow—all the more because she despises Parma so. Since Prince Frederick chose Parma, the Empress has chosen Garrys. But Isabel won’t find that easy to accept. Your Grace, would you extend an invitation to the Former Duchess?”
“…What?”
The Duke stopped and looked at his wife. The Duchess sighed before speaking.
“The Former Duchess—your mother—she needs to either console Isabel or shake some sense into her. We cannot afford to let this rest. The Empress played us, and we cannot sit idle in return.”
The Duke of Wiscom nodded in agreement. The Duchess smiled at him and continued.
“Prince Frederick is not enamored with Parma—that much is certain. It’s said he’d act the fool in an instant even if the Empress and the Cresida Family worked to secure him. If Isabel refuses to surrender and rattles the Prince, what will Parma do? Will her temperament allow her to stay calm? Seeing Parma in chaos would surely change Frederick’s mind. Would he truly wish to spend his life with a woman like that?”
The Duke spoke.
“But can your mother… can you bear it?”
“I must. Right now, what I bear is not the issue. My mother must come and comfort Isabel by any means necessary. When someone touches Wiscom, we do not sit idle—that is not our way. For now, we need my mother’s assistance.”
“Very well. Philip?”
Philip rose as he answered.
“Yes, I’ll go at once.”
The Duchess spoke to Philip.
“On your way to the Former Duchess, stop by Ariel as well.”
“Ariel? That’s hardly on the way from the Family Domain.”
“It’s a figure of speech. Go to Ariel and assess Robert’s condition for yourself. He may not grant you an audience if you go to Umbriel, but you can ask Baron Ariel or Sophia to look into it for you instead.”
“I understand, but I doubt they’ll welcome me at Ariel either.”
The Duke of Wiscom spoke sharply, his temper flaring.
“They don’t have the spine to chase you away like Prince Robert does. What happened at the Debutante Ball is already past. If they harbor any resentment over it, make them understand what Wiscom is capable of. Whether you intimidate them or manipulate them—whatever it takes. See that you extend a bridge to Prince Robert.”
Philip said with a cynical edge.
“Even if Robert does what you ask, he won’t come back to us. And going all the way to Ariel is nothing but tedious. There’s no guarantee they’ll even listen.”
The Duke of Wiscom let out a scornful laugh and spoke.
“The moment you arrive at Ariel, make a threat. From now on, anyone who interferes with Wiscom’s affairs will not be spared. If Ariel grows arrogant, show them what we’re made of. Philip! Do as the Duchess says.”
Philip acknowledged the order and left to prepare for travel.
Philip harbored no resentment at being treated like a subordinate by the Duke and Duchess. What troubled him was the unnecessary resorting to threats. How had Wiscom become a house that could only gain cooperation through intimidation?
Philip’s bitterness ran deeper still. It lay in the very fact that Wiscom had been used—and it was a development he could have foreseen.
Even with Robert estranged, Wiscom’s power remained undiminished, yet the Empress and the Cresida Family seemed to regard it as utterly irrelevant.
‘As long as Garrys exists, Wiscom is expendable—that’s what they think.’
Philip found himself genuinely disliking Garrys.

***

Robert heard of Prince Frederick’s engagement to Parma while occupied with the pressing business of his domain. Mab shook her head as she delivered the news.
“Poor Wiscom. I thought it was settled, but an engagement to Parma instead? The price for their offense against you, my lord.”
“No. Not the price for offending me—the price for trusting Cresida. I have yet to make Wiscom pay.”
“Wiscom may come to you and ask you to reconcile with Isabel. Perhaps you could feign reluctance and accept their overtures of peace?”
Robert let out a scornful laugh.
“Cresida will do whatever she can to obstruct my marriage to a powerful house. They’ve no doubt already made thorough preparations to ruin my betrothal. Surely they won’t have failed to devise some way to check Wiscom’s influence when I announce the engagement to Garrys?”
Mab replied flatly.
“Then I’m to remain bound to Umbriel indefinitely? Never to return to the Capital?”
Robert glanced back at the documents as he spoke.
“The faster you finish the work, the sooner you can return to the Capital. Don’t you think?”
“The faster I finish, the more work piles up before me. I’ve been deceived more than once. I’m merely indulging in complaint. Might not Wiscom come to Umbriel seeking you? The disadvantage lies with them, after all.”
“True enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if Philip appeared before me again. Wiscom will need me to unsettle the Empress, if nothing else.”
Mab sighed as she spoke.
“If we’re to be used again in that way, it’s better not to acknowledge him at all, let alone reconcile.”
Robert agreed entirely.

***

Philip stood before the gates of Ariel. Before the outer gates, no less.
The moment Philip Wiscom sent word of his intention to visit Ariel, the Ariel Baron closed the gates—the outer gates of Ariel had not been shut since the Baron’s father’s time.
That had been then only to restrict passage and prevent the spread of plague. The Ariel Baron’s fury ran that deep.
What befell Sophia was largely the Ariel Baron’s own fault. He tormented himself with the thought that had he opened the Debutante Ball to Sophia, she would never have suffered such humiliation.
Sophia blamed herself, but no matter how he turned it over, the fault lay with the Ariel Baron.
‘Yes, it was my fault. Clever Sophia brought this hardship upon herself for the sake of the Domain’s circumstances. My fault, and no one else’s.’
Sophia, fully aware of the Domain’s poverty, had repeatedly refused to hold a Debutante Ball, and so the Ariel Baron had resolved to send her to the Capital.
The Ariel Baron had no wish for Sophia to spend her life alone. He’d been quietly setting aside funds under the pretext of her Dowry.
Even without a title, if a match suited her well enough, he intended to make one. For the Baron, though the Domain mattered greatly, it did not matter more than Sophia’s future.
Even after losing his mother in childhood, the Domain’s affairs had kept him from caring for Sophia properly. Yet rather than resent him, she had lent her own hands to help with the Domain’s work.
The Ariel Baron wanted at least to give Sophia what others took for granted. That meant he should have looked after her far more carefully.
His regret had hardened into resolve: should the Wiscom Family attempt to unsettle or exploit Sophia again, he would stop them with every means at his disposal.
‘Not a second time. Even if it means making an enemy of the Wiscom Duke.’
He could not seek revenge on Wiscom for wounding Sophia. Yet he could not bear to see Wiscom set foot in Ariel. Not even if it cost him the Domain itself.
With such resolve, the Ariel Baron had locked the outer gates.

***

Philip dismounted and paced before the closed gates.
‘How dare he obstruct Wiscom?’
As Philip let out a hollow laugh, turning over Ariel’s impudence in his mind, the Ariel Baron appeared atop the ramparts. Poor as Ariel was said to be, its fortifications and gates seemed formidable indeed.
The Ariel Baron spoke down to Philip below the gates.
“How honored we are that the Wiscom Duke’s heir should grace Ariel with a visit. Yet our humble Ariel is scarcely worthy of such a guest. I hope you will forgive us and take your leave.”
Philip looked up at the Ariel Baron. The soldiers and retainers who had accompanied him from Wiscom encircled him.
Seeing their readiness for trouble, Philip waved his hand. They fell back, but remained poised. Soldiers lined the ramparts beside the Baron.
Philip smiled and spoke first.
“I’ve come merely to see a kinsman. Surely this reception is too cold, my lord? I confess I’ve never received such treatment in all my days.”
“I believe my own treatment of you is excessive. Yet I hope you might understand a father’s feelings when he knows what befell Sophia.”
“I hear you correspond frequently with Prince Robert and cooperate well together.”
“Prince Robert showed Sophia sincerity and apologized to her. And my child accepted it. Yet he has said nothing against Wiscom. Ah—but I’m told the Duchess gave my child a purse of money, calling it a Dowry. I ask you to give the Duchess my regards. Tell her I was foolish to forget the past, and that her gift reminded me. Tell her I’m grateful that she opened my eyes to my own stupidity.”
“Making Wiscom an enemy will gain Ariel nothing.”
“You speak truly. There is nothing to gain in making an enemy. Yet what would we gain by cowering?”
Philip spoke with a leisureliness that bordered on indolence.
“There is nothing to gain, but much to lose. Having this border Domain, humble though it is, the Baron can carry himself thus and command soldiers as you do. Yet in the Capital, there are so many barons and nobles that they live no better than commoners. To speak of soldiers—it strains credulity.”
“A better circumstance? Are you threatening to strip Ariel from me? Is the Wiscom Family threatening me now?”
Philip feigned great surprise as he spoke.
“Threaten? Not at all. I merely thought the Baron was unaware of how fortunate his circumstances are. That even a Domain poor in reputation is better than having nothing. Is a nobleman without a Domain truly a nobleman? Without money, life becomes…… decidedly uncomfortable, does it not?”
Philip laughed along with his retainers. The Ariel Baron answered his provocation coldly.
“I take your meaning well, Philip Wiscom. You are the Wiscom Family’s only heir, so one understands the weight of your words.”
The Ariel Baron ended the conversation without so much as opening the gates. Philip sighed and mounted his horse.
“You will come to regret this day. In the meantime, build many fond memories with your Ariel kinfolk. You may not see them again soon.”
The Ariel Baron replied with dignity.
“I thank you for the counsel. I shall heed your warning.”
Philip and his retinue rode off, and the Ariel Baron watched them depart. Jon, who stood beside the Baron, spoke with apprehension as he watched them go.
“Will Wiscom truly act against us?”
“He will. We must move first. Jon, I’m sorry to burden you—leave for the Capital at dawn tomorrow. Better still, bring Jack along. Isn’t it time the boy began learning his trade from you?”
“Yes, my lord.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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