The Grand Duchess's Sixth First Night — Chapter 3

"The Empire nearly lost a fine archer today."

It was an odd sort of compliment to pay a lady.

Is he mocking me?

Laila stared straight at him, trying to read what lay beneath Ervan's words, and then she understood. The tips of his ears had gone red. He meant every word of it.

"I owe you a great debt, Viscount. Thank you for preventing a terrible accident that my carelessness might have caused."

Laila lifted the hem of her dress slightly and bowed her head—a formal, graceful curtsy, executed to perfection. She did not forget, as always, to wear her soft, faint smile.

"It was nothing."

Watching the flush that had begun at his ears spread all the way down to the back of his neck, Laila allowed herself a small, private smile.

Whenever her day turned out less than perfect, she had always turned back time to "correct" it. But even Laila had moments, now and then, that she was reluctant to erase.

Only Laila remembered the hours that vanished when time rewound. Everything that happened in those lost hours—every conversation, every exchange—became as though it had never been.

In the day she restarted, a first meeting this intense with Ervan would never occur.

Perhaps she wouldn't so much as meet his eyes or exchange a single word with him.

That was the one thing she found a little regrettable.

Not that I won't still turn back the time.

And yet, that evening, Laila did not rewind the day.

"A fine response, Viscount Ervan."

A deep, weighty voice delivered its brief praise to Ervan. It was the Emperor.

As Ervan bowed at the waist in salute, the Emperor let out a hearty laugh.

"Your skill at subduing that horse is no ordinary thing. Truly befitting a war hero."

"You flatter me, Your Majesty."

Ervan answered with quiet composure.

When the Emperor rose from his seat, every gaze in the pavilion converged upon him.

"And the Grand Duchess."

The Emperor's eyes turned to Laila.

She steadied her breath by reflex and summoned the most elegant, most obedient smile of the Grand Duchess—polished through thousands of rehearsals.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I find myself wishing to praise you as well."

"...You mean me, Your Majesty?"

The reason Ervan had subdued the horse was that it had panicked. And the one who had caused that panic was Laila, with her stray arrow.

And yet he offered praise instead of reprimand? A flicker of confusion crossed Laila's face.

The Emperor spoke again.

"Until only a few months ago, the Empire was still in a state of war. Thanks to Viscount Ervan here, we have won enough peace to hold this hunting contest once more."

Ervan bowed low, head lowered.

"I hear whispers behind your back, my lady, about a woman taking up a bow. But Jim thinks differently."

The Emperor smiled, meaning glinting in his eyes. The noblewomen who had been whispering behind the bow-wielding Laila went pale as death.

"These are times when war could break out again at any moment. When danger finds you, I wish for each of you to be able, at the very least, to protect yourselves."

The Emperor swept his gaze across the noblewomen and young ladies gathered beneath the awning, and let it come to rest, at last, on Laila.

"I was deeply impressed by your courage today, Grand Duchess."

Laila had to fight to keep her expression in check. Barely suppressing the exhilaration welling up inside her, she arranged her face into one of humble, honored delight, as though the Emperor's words had truly moved her.

"You honor me too much, Your Majesty. I only regret causing such a disturbance with my clumsy handling of the bow."

"I intend to order that the Princess be taught archery before long. I would have you be a fine senior to her. The Academy calls it a senior, does it not?"

"It would be my honor, Your Majesty."

Laila bowed her head and answered softly.

"This is precisely why the Academy was opened to ladies—to cultivate talent such as yours. Seeing you, Grand Duchess, it seems Jim's decision was the right one."

The Emperor nodded, wearing a look of deep satisfaction.

Scarcely had the Emperor's lavish praise faded before the noblewomen—faces rearranged in an instant—scrambled to change their tune.

"What grace could possibly rival the bow for a lady!"

"The times have changed. We ladies must learn to protect ourselves as well."

"Truly the Grand Duchess. As if perfect noble bearing weren't enough, she's a master archer besides!"

"Perhaps I shall send my own daughter to the Academy."

Hypocritical accolades rained down. Listening to the flattery of the very women who had been cutting her down moments before, Laila offered a shy little smile, as though embarrassed by it all.

Without turning back time, the entire board had been flipped perfectly in her favor.

A thrill of victory surged through Laila's chest. To hide her elation, she turned her head slightly, pretending to glance around the pavilion.

Her gaze landed on Ervan.

What is with that face?

Unlike Laila, who was fighting desperately to conceal everything behind a managed expression, Ervan looked as though he had no intention of hiding a thing.

He had been watching the nobles' hypocritical flattery with a cool, contemptuous stare—and the moment he felt Laila's eyes on him, he turned his head with quick precision and met her gaze.

Then, one corner of his mouth curving up, he smiled at her.

At that insolent smile, the corners of Laila's eyes twitched faintly before settling back into place.

No one had ever dared smile at her like that.

She had been the "first love" of nearly every young nobleman her age.

Anyone who caught Laila's eye would instinctively summon the most "handsome" expression they could manage.

Perhaps that was why she found herself unable to look away from Ervan.

See you again.

Ervan mouthed his farewell to her.

Her cheeks coloring without her permission, Laila whipped her head away.

The Emperor was watching the two of them. A contented smile played on his lips, but his eyes gleamed with cunning.

Laila lay on her soft bed, staring blankly up at the skylight. She was in the middle of a struggle with herself.

I was so certain I would turn back the time.

It had been a chaotic day. She had attended the hunting contest, been cornered by the petty sparring between Lady Della and Lady Vena, ended up loosing an arrow, and heard the noblewomen whispering behind her back.

The arrow had flown farther than she intended and startled a horse on its return. And then...

The Empire nearly lost a fine archer today.

When Ervan's low voice echoed in her ears, Laila yanked the blanket up over her head. Her face was burning.

It wasn't a perfect day. Turn back the time.

But every time she tried to commit to the decision, the image of Ervan from that afternoon kept surfacing in her mind.

The hard muscles of his forearms as they gripped the reins, the massive frame carved by years on the battlefield, the tousled black hair, and the golden eyes gleaming between the strands.

The Empire nearly lost a fine archer today.

Laila kicked the blanket aside and sat bolt upright in bed.

"Honestly, what kind of compliment was that!"

He was a strange man, Viscount Ervan.

Any ordinary nobleman would have phrased it differently. A more plausible compliment, in more polished words.

But he hadn't.

And that, presumably, was why he kept coming back to her mind. Laila let out a long sigh.

If she rewound time, this entire day would cease to exist.

Their intense first meeting, the things he had said to her, the expressions he had worn—all of it would vanish forever, surviving only in her memory.

For in the script of the day she was to rewrite, Ervan would never appear.

"...It's a shame."

Her mood had turned strange. To push thoughts of Ervan away, Laila made herself recall other things instead.

Being praised by the Emperor in front of everyone.

Watching the noblewomen's faces drain of color at his words.

And hearing all those voices fawning over her.

Little by little, the frown on her face began to smooth away.

That's right—honestly, I lost nothing today! At this point, rewinding time would be the real loss.

Laila pushed the small silver knife she had been fidgeting with ever since returning to her room deep into the drawer beside her bed.

"No matter how I think about it, this is the best choice. For today."

So she murmured to herself, concluding that it was, in its own way, a perfectly rational decision.

Laila lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. She needed to fall asleep quickly.

Having chosen not to rewind time, she would now have to live with the consequences of "today."