I was attending the Grand Council, urgently convened under the leadership of my father-in-law and the Judicial Minister, for the first time in a long while. Adelbert, who had stepped in as proxy for the Finance Minister, looked puzzled to see me in the chamber.
"I heard the Gale Knights cracked down on a ladies' salon, but was it really serious enough to warrant calling the Grand Council?"
"His Grace will be the one to judge that."
"...Surely not that rumor we've been hearing?"
It seemed Adelbert had heard the rumor too—the one claiming I was the Grand Duke's illegitimate son. For Adelbert, who was still consolidating his footing within the Finance Department, it was an extremely sensitive and delicate topic.
His relationship with me had changed in many ways. Adelbert had very little leverage among the four ministers, so he'd been signaling that he wanted to stay on good terms with the Military Department through me.
