Chapter 62 The Matchmaking
Is Lady Talulla truly disguising a match–making trip as a pilgrimage for Zephyr and me?
After lighting some candles, Talulla guided Sadie and Zephyr to a quiet chamber.
* Finished
Inside sat a richly dressed lady with her son and daughter. Talulla greeted her with warmth. “Forgive us. We
are late!”
Only after the formal bows did Sadie realize the lady was the Duchess of Hanshire.
The Duchess took Sadie’s hand. “Miss Francis, your elegance and learning surpass even what Lady Talulla
wrote to me.”
Turning to Zephyr, she added with approval, “Commander Gates is yet more impressive than before.”
Talulla beamed. “I will not pretend to be modest. My grandchildren know propriety and restraint. Your son and daughter are no less remarkable. One is gallant, the other as lovely as a rose.”
Sadie’s fingers curled against her palm. Grandmother’s purpose was now unmistakable. This was a carefully staged introduction. No wonder she had ordered the maids to dress Sadie to the nines.
The Duchess waved breezily. “Lady Talulla and I will proceed with our prayers. You young people may stroll wherever you like. You are of an age and should have endless things to discuss.”
The four youngsters crossed the covered corridor in complete silence.
Sadie was strolling ahead along the cloister when a low voice behind her warned, “Careful.” Charlie Campbell, heir to the Duke of Hanshire, darted forward and lifted aside the pomegranate branch that had slipped across the walkway.
Sadie blinked and dipped into a quick curtsy. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” Charlie replied with an easy, ringing laugh.
Her gaze lingered on his refined features, and for a heartbeat, her thoughts drifted far beyond the quiet
monastery.
She alone knew the secret behind that poised smile. Charlie had entered the world as a girl.
The Duke of Hanshire–extravagant and surrounded by concubines–let his embattled duchess hide the child’s sex and present Charlie to the court as the legitimate male heir.
In the previous life, Zephyr joined other feudal lords in revolt, and the Emperor summoned Charlie to protect the capital. She fought like a lioness, yet even her brilliance could not stem the tide.
When she fell, the enemy stripped away her armor, discovered the truth, severed her head, and nailed her mutilated body to the city wall.
The Emperor offered no gratitude. Instead, he thundered that a woman who dared command tre defied heaven’s order.
s had
Shamed before the realm, the Duke of Hanshire dragged the duchess from her chambers and killed her himself.
The monastery courtyard basked in gentle late–spring light, yet a thin, unmistakable chill threaded through
Chapter 62 The Matchmaking
Sadie’s bones.
She had never judged Charlie harshly. On the contrary, she admired the nerve it took to hold an heir’s tide as a woman and to command both pen and sword with such effortless grace.
Without thinking, she offered Charlie a soft and sweet smile.
Zephyr noticed; one brow lifted ever so slightly.
Once the Campbell siblings had moved ahead, Zephyr lowered his voice and asked, “Do you fancy him?”
“Pardon?” Sadie blinked, unsure she had heard correctly.
“Charlie… Do you like him?”
Sadie said nothing, and in Zephyr’s eyes, her silence became confirmation.
Hands clasped behind his back, he murmured, “The two of you would not suit.”
“I never said I liked him,” she reminded him.
“But you smiled at him.”
“I have smiled at plenty of people,” she answered.
The spring breeze brushed their faces, already carrying a hint of the summer heat to come.
Zephyr fixed her with a steady look. “Are you thinking of marriage simply to escape the Gates Estate?”
As he laid out his theory, ripples flickered in her almond eyes.
Of course–why had she never thought of slipping free of the Gates Estate simply by marrying?
While Sadie chatted with Zephyr, the pair walking ahead of them whispered to each other as well.
Lillian Campbell huffed, “Mother must be bored out of her mind. You’re in a tight spot, and I want to stay home and help you. Why should I get married?”
Charlie answered solemnly, “More than your help, I want you to meet a good man and live without worries.”
“Even if I had to marry,” Lillian sneered, glancing at Zephyr, “it would never be him. He looks so gentle, so polite, yet in private, he robs and kills.”
She added, “I heard that when he cleared out the bandits in the southwestern region, he slaughtered nine thousand of them, hostages included. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, indeed!”
Zephyr had built his career without the slightest help from the Gates Estate.
He rose to Commander of the City Garrison by being ruthless and heartless.
Charlie laughed softly, indulgent as ever. “If you don’t like him, then you won’t marry him.”
Lillian giggled. “They say he shuns women and despises fragile girls. Just wait. I’ll make myself so cloying
he’ll choke on it.”
Sadie possessed sharp hearing.
Chapter 62 The Matchmaking:
Catching their exchange, she smiled at the revelation that Zephyr, too, could face rejection.
They climbed to Verdant Pavilion, and a mountain gust swept across Mercycloud Monastery.
Lillian began her act. She cried in distress, “Oh dear, oh heavens! I am ever so delicate. The wind will carry me away!”
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Scomed Heir’s Second Life: The Rebirth That Made My Brothers Weep
