Chapter 49: the charmer

~Ian~

After visiting Ivaris for a second time, I met their Crown Prince and went hunting with him. Ivaris was one of the best hunting places I have known with lots of freshwater, feeding spots, and some kind of game breeding throughout the year. The last time I was with Andreas was in February when I couldn't stop thinking about Nadia. It was the first time I thought about someone who was not Caty.

On one such day eight years ago, Andreas and I met Caty when we were up north in his kingdom, hunting for some Alpine Ibex. Visiting Ivaris always brought back memories of her, and the good times we spent together. Just a few kisses from Nadia made me forget Caty, who was on my mind for many years.

I wanted to stay mad at Nadia for pushing me away for some nonexistent future husband. I left without telling her because it really hurt my ego. Little did I know it was Noah she wanted to save herself for. Months later, I still can't stop thinking about her, and now I can't even imagine getting mad at her, despite all she did.

I met Caty twice this week, but my mind was elsewhere, on leading my men to cover as many houses as possible because this was a big, overpopulated kingdom with lots of farmers and merchants. With the influx of so many liberated slaves from Southland and famine victims from Sisadal, the census lists were all outdated. Nadia could be anywhere.

"Congratulations, you bastard! She chose you a second time over me." Andreas faked anger as we hid behind a patch of tall grass, waiting for the next feral hog. He always had a crush on Caty, but she treated him like a little boy because he was only fifteen when she was eighteen.

"Well, you had seven years to take your chance. Isn't that a large enough window?" I shrugged.

"Gah!"

"What made you do it this time? You could have had three or four babies with her by now if you weren't so indecisive."

Whatever people said to me, no matter what it was about, made me think about Nadia. "Someone taught me this year to live life on my own terms, no compromises for the sake of fitting in or following rules."

"Huh! So are you and Caty just waiting for enough time to pass between Edward's death and your engagement? What's the hold-up? She looks extra eager. I expected to see her in all black and mourning, but she's flashing those summer floral dresses and wide smiles."

"Mm... I think I'm the hold-up. I need some time."

"Time for what? You can take over Southland before it's too late. You will have to wage a war if you wait for even another month."

"I'm waiting to hear from someone. Can't say where she is right now."

"Hold it! Is this search mission in Ivaris for a woman?"

I nodded.

"Are you serious? Did you want to marry Caty while looking for someone so desperately? That's not fair for Caty, you know that, right?"

"Caty knows. She even met her in Mountbatten."

"Women!! Always want the man who's emotionally unavailable."

"Well, I don't think my woman is emotionally available either."

"The playboy calling someone his woman! Sounds like music to my ears. Now I'm so curious I want to send my men to look for her as well. She surely set you straight. Who is she? Is she blind to reject you?"

"Oh, I was the blind one. She was a courtesan but didn't want to be one. Both she and her sister had secret lovers who were willing to wait for them to finish their term. Her sister went through it, but she couldn't. I was the fool on the side who fell for her really hard."

"Fool, indeed. She was in it for money then?"

"I wish she was! Her priorities are different. I think I confused her and she couldn't decide which one of us to pick. I won't believe it if someone tells me she loves him more than me. She chose him ultimately because he could give her the life I couldn't."

"Why didn't you kill him then? Fucker can run for his life while you claim her."

"Right, he ran, and she ran with him." I couldn't help feeling mad at myself. If I was sober the last time I saw Noah, I could have extracted the info from him. I let him slip out of my hands so he could hide her real good.

"Do you really think she feels anything for you? Why didn't she return to you if she regretted her decision even once? Did she ever write to you? I guess not."

"I don't know. In my dreams, she's still the same person I once knew, and she still loves me."

"Ian, buddy! You have become the kind of dude we both used to mock. You have no idea how foolish you sound right now. She's gone and never returning."

"I want to see it to believe it. I need closure."

"Will Caty wait that long?"

"I didn't ask her to wait. She's pregnant and wants to get married. What do you want me to do? I refused but felt like an ass. And feel worse after agreeing."

"I would give it an ultimatum. Say, if you don't find this two-timing chick--"

"Andy, stop! She is mine. I don't want to believe she was a two-timer. Next time you say something about he--"

"Sheesh, okay! We are talking about a witch here. O-okay, my bad. Stop hissing, I will zip it."

"Who did you want me to meet, by the way?" He wrote to me about someone he met. It wasn't like him to mention a woman in his letters.

"Ah!" His face lit up. "The smart cookie. She roasts my ass so subtly, I love it. She's pregnant with a baby too. She's been waiting for her lover boy for months. I told her the same that I told you, to move on. And then I proposed to take care of her and her child, not as my mistress or side chick but as my only one. She told me to fuck off."

"Andy, that's not how you react when you get rejected." Where was the sadness, or at least bitterness? Until now, I thought I was a lost cause.

He smiled to himself before explaining, "She told me the same thing that Caty did, that I'm not old enough."

"How old is she?"

"I don't know. I asked her the same question. She said her age doesn't matter. I need to be on my deathbed for her to say yes."

"What?"

"Oh, she's hilarious. She wants to be a young, rich widow who can inherit all her dead husband's money and travel around the world."

"She's something." I couldn't help but think about Nadia.

A pinch of sass, a pinch of soul, and a lot of nonsensical ideas. Andreas's new toy sounded crazy like Nadia, but since when did he get interested in pregnant women?

Even for someone so wealthy and in high status like Caty, it is not easy to be unmarried and pregnant. We still lived in a very regressive world. Who was this pregnant woman who rejected the Crown Prince for the sake of someone she was waiting for?

"She's quite the charmer. And very intelligent. I don't realize when she tricks me with her words."

"Yeah, that's obvious. She told you to fuck off and you are smiling like a madman."

"Well, she told me she sees me as a great friend. I do make her smile, and she told me that many times. I invited her to the ball next week. You should come. I'm sure you will visit Ivaris more often for Caty's sake. Bring her along and I will introduce you to my new friend."

"Okay."

"Oh, wait! You are invited, but on one condition, that you won't take her from me. You rascal charm all my women and they choose your mediocre ass over my sexy--"

"Oh shut up, she's all yours. I'm not interested in climbing on my deathbed so she can be a rich widow. When is this ball again?"

"Next Saturday."