Verity's gaze landed on Rosalind the moment the door opened, and behind her stood the footman. "Lady Rosalind," she said warmly, bowing slightly as they exchanged greetings. "Do come in."
"Thank you," Rosalind replied as she stepped inside, still wearing a look of annoyance, and Verity gently closed the door while Rowan remained outside in his usual straight and composed stance.
"Having a footman must be really annoying," Verity said as she noticed that Rosalind clearly did not enjoy being followed around.
"Tell me something I don't know," Rosalind muttered under her breath, and then they both took their seats by the couch.
As Rosalind glanced around while Verity poured tea for both of them, she noticed that the room was almost exactly like hers. It was just as large, with the same exquisite bed and chandelier, while expensive curtains draped over the window and a private bath sat to one side. The soft rug beneath her feet, the vanity in the corner, the cupboard, and now the couch they sat on all spoke of the same grand luxury that seemed to exist in every room of this palace.
"Thank you," Rosalind said once Verity had filled both cups, and they began to drink slowly before setting them back down.
Rosalind then decided to get straight to the reason she had come because time was running out, and Alaric would soon call for her again. She didn't want to go there only to start breathing on his face like he had mockingly claimed, and at the thought of it, her cheeks immediately reddened.
"You wanted to say something." Verity's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied her. She had not failed to notice Rosalind's blush.
"Ah… yes," Rosalind said softly. "I… I just don't know how to say it."
"Well, you just have to say it. I'll listen regardless of how you put it," Verity assured her, and Rosalind could not help but smile at how considerate she was.
Then she bit her lip and looked at Verity, who was now watching her with suspicion and anticipation. "Can you please… teach me how to seduce?" Rosalind finally said, and all at once heat crawled up her face, turning it a deep shade of red.
Verity herself felt her cheeks grow pink as she stared at Rosalind in complete surprise. She had clearly not been expecting that question.
"S… seduce?" she repeated.
Rosalind nodded quickly and added, "The king… he asked me to seduce him, and I don't know how to. The last time I tried, it was a failure, and he said I should learn from the others or carry out my own research."
A frown settled on her face as she said it. Alaric had said research as though she had come here to study how to please a man.
Verity remained quiet for a moment before answering. "Well, in that case, I cannot be of much help. I don't know how to… seduce a man," she admitted, the word still sounding awkward on her tongue.
Rosalind leaned back against the chair, and her shoulders dropped in disappointment. She was not close to the other women, and Verity was the only one who had seemed kind enough to speak with her, which was why she had come here in the first place.
"I don't know why he'd give me such a stupid task," Rosalind mumbled, and then she turned back to Verity. "Weren't you asked to seduce him as well? You must have done something to please him."
Verity shook her head. "I have never seduced the king," she said, and her eyes narrowed for a second before she continued, "I'm not sure about the others either because whenever the king wants to be intimate, he just… takes it from us. He doesn't ask us to seduce him."
Her voice had lowered by the end, and those words hung heavily in the room.
Rosalind's lips slowly parted into an O shape.
Then it truly meant that it was only her Alaric had decided to burden with this cruel little task, and she did not like it at all.
How exactly was she supposed to learn something like this?
Verity studied Rosalind's troubled expression before deciding to speak again.
"Sabine might know how. She has stayed here longer than anyone else… and she is the only ambitious one." She added the last part inwardly.
"Sabine?" Rosalind repeated.
"Yes. The blonde woman with blue eyes," Verity explained.
Rosalind knew there were at least two blondes among the women here, so she still wasn't entirely sure which one Verity meant.
She knew no one here except Verity.
"But I wouldn't advise you to meet her," Verity added with a dismissive wave of her hand. "She's not particularly friendly."
"Oh." Rosalind's lips curled again, and disappointment settled over her for the second time that day.
Silence fell between them as both women drifted into their own thoughts. Verity was wondering what else she could possibly do to help Rosalind, while Rosalind's mind was consumed with thoughts of how Alaric might punish her now that she still did not know how to seduce him.
And it certainly would not be a good idea to repeat what she had done before.
"I know something else we can do," Verity said suddenly.
Rosalind's eyes lit up immediately. "We can go to the library. There are thousands of books there, and there should be at least a few that can give us a hint."
Rosalind slowly nodded.
Why had she not thought of that? Perhaps that was the research Alaric had meant all along.
"Then we should head to the library," Rosalind said quickly. "I'm sorry to disturb you."
Verity waved her hand lightly. "It's no problem," she said, "Besides, I have books to return, so it's nothing really." She pointed toward the books spread across the bed, and Rosalind nodded.
Now she felt a little relieved, knowing she might finally find a solution, and she would not be doing it alone.
As they made their way out of the room, Rowan fell into step behind them while keeping a respectful distance. Rosalind leaned slightly closer to Verity as they walked.
"I'm curious about something," she said quietly. "Doesn't everyone else have a footman?"
Verity shook her head as they descended the stairs. "No… it's just you."
"I wonder why everything bad has to happen to me," Rosalind muttered under her breath.
Verity's lips curled faintly at that. Was she really referring to the footman as something bad?
"You think this is bad?" she asked.
"Having someone follow you around and not letting you breathe is bad," Rosalind replied, and Verity could not help but chuckle softly.
As they stepped out of the building, the other mistresses turned their attention toward them, and Sabine in particular watched with a sharp glare as her fists tightened at her sides.
So Verity had truly chosen that viscount's daughter over them.
Sabine scoffed and turned her gaze away, though the bitterness remained etched across her face. She would make sure Verity regrets her decision!
The three of them soon arrived at the library, where guards stood stationed at the entrance. Verity stepped forward. "I'm here to return the books I borrowed, and I would like to borrow more."
The guard's gaze shifted briefly to Rosalind and then to Rowan.
"They are with me," Verity added calmly.
After a moment, they were granted access.
Rosalind's lips parted in quiet awe the moment she stepped inside. The library was nothing short of magnificent. The ceiling stretched high above them, lined with painted glass windows that allowed light to filter in softly, and rows upon rows of polished shelves stood tall, filled with books from top to bottom.
It was the largest library she had ever seen.
"I had the same reaction," Verity said with a small smile.
Rosalind quickly composed herself. "It's nothing to be ashamed of," Verity added gently as they began to walk deeper into the library.
"It won't be easy to find the book we're looking for," Rosalind said thoughtfully, her eyes scanning the endless rows. This place was far too large, and it would take time to go through each section.
"We'll just have to try," Verity replied. Then she turned slightly toward her. "We may need to split up so it will be faster… and don't bother going to that section, the book won't be there."
Rosalind nodded in understanding as Verity clearly knew this place far better than she did.
As Verity turned and walked off, Rosalind turned on her heels as well, only for her gaze to land on Rowan.
She might as well make use of him!
"We should split up as well to search for the book," Rosalind said to him.
She expected him to move immediately, but he remained where he stood, his head slightly lowered.
"What book, my lady?" he asked.
Rosalind blinked, her cheeks warming at once. "You mean you didn't hear what we were discussing in the room earlier?" she asked, a faint frown forming on her face.
"I didn't."
At the back of her mind, she was sure he was lying.
"Look for a book… about love, courtship… or how to… entice a man." she said, her ears turning red as she spoke.
His head tilted almost slightly as he answered calmly. "You won't find that kind of book here."
Rosalind's brows creased. Why? She thought, but then her suspicion sharpened.
"How would you know?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "Have you been sneaking around here… educating yourself?"
It was unusual for a servant to read books as that privilege only belonged to people of status.
Rowan said nothing, though his eyes narrowed ever so slightly as if something had crossed his mind, and she missed it entirely.
"Whatever," Rosalind muttered after a moment. "Just go and look for it. If we don't find it, we'll figure something else out."
She turned and walked away from him.
****
Time passed as they searched through shelves and sections, flipping through books and scanning titles, yet nothing seemed to offer what Rosalind was looking for.
There was nothing useful... Not even a guide or an answer...
"You won't find that type of book here," Rowan had said earlier…
Rosalind stood still for a moment, another useless book in her hands while her thoughts circled back to him.
How exactly did he know that?
Her gaze slowly lifted across the shelves until it landed on Rowan at the far end of the aisle.
He was standing where she had left him, tall and composed as ever, yet there was something about the way his eyes moved over the shelves that unsettled her.
It did not look like the gaze of a mere servant.
It was almost as though he already knew this place.
The way his eyes moved from one shelf to another did not hold confusion or hesitation. Instead, it was calm and familiar, as if he had been here more times than he should have.
Rosalind's brows drew together.
For a servant, he carried himself with too much composure and too much confidence.
Even the way he spoke earlier...
You won't find that kind of book here.
He didn't guess it, he had known.
A strange suspicion stirred inside her chest, and it only deepened the longer she looked at him. Could it be that this man was more than what he pretended to be? Her fingers tightened around the book in her hands.
Perhaps… she would need to start paying closer attention to him.