Though her methods must not have been as infallible as she had once believed, considering they had still managed to outmaneuver her in her previous life.
Adrian merely waved her concern aside.
"That is mostly irrelevant now," he said, dismissing the matter with a flippant wave of his hand. "Have you seen Mother today?"
Cassandra nodded, allowing the subject to fall away.
"She is meeting with the ambassador from Valenne this afternoon. I imagine they shall be occupied for quite some time."
He gave an understanding hum.
"Then I suppose I shan’t see her until dinner," he muttered absentmindedly. After a brief pause, he looked back at her. "There has been something I’ve been meaning to tell you."
She regarded him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.
"I’ve decided that next Season, I shall begin looking for a wife. I’ve been thinking about it for months."
His voice carried none of the uncertainty one might have expected from a man speaking of such a life-changing decision.
Instead, it held the confidence of someone who had reached his conclusion only after long and careful consideration. "I want a family. I’ve reached an age where it feels like the natural next step."
Adrian had always admired his parents’ marriage.
Throughout his childhood, he had watched the Queen and the Prince Consort with a sense of longing. Their devotion to one another had never been hidden.
The Prince Consort had never hesitated to show his affection for his wife, nor had the Queen ever concealed the depth of hers in return. Together, they ruled an entire kingdom, yet beyond the burdens of the Crown, they remained husband and wife first.
Their marriage was spoken of with admiration throughout the kingdom, not because it was perfect, but because their affection for one another had never changed where so many others had long since faded.
It had shaped Adrian’s understanding of what marriage ought to be.
He wanted what they had.
He wished to find a woman he could cherish without reservation, someone with whom he could build a family founded upon genuine affection rather than convenience alone.
"I know it may take time," he continued, "but I’d rather wait for the right woman than settle for the wrong one."
"I think that’s a wise decision," Cassandra said, beaming at him with all the joy she could muster.
He smiled, looking visibly revived by her response.
"You do?"
"I do."
"Then I have your approval?" he probed.
"You’ve never required it."
"No," he admitted. "But it’s nice to have it."
Her disapproval would never have dissuaded him, but it always pleased him to know she stood beside him, ready to support whatever path he chose.
Somehow, Cassandra’s smile grew even warmer, genuinely delighted for him.
Yet his words stirred thoughts she had long since buried.
She had never shared Adrian’s view of marriage.
She had grown up watching a very different sort of union.
Nathaniel and Vivienne Ashford had never loved one another in the way the Queen and the Prince Consort did.
Their marriage had not been unhappy, nor had it been cruel. It had simply been practical—a match arranged for the benefit of two noble families, sustained by mutual respect, familiarity, and years of shared responsibility.
Her parents had never shared any grand romance. They had simply coexisted.
They had raised their children together, managed their household together, and settled comfortably into lives that revolved around duty rather than affection.
For most of her life, Cassandra had believed that was what marriage truly was.
Practical. Predictable. Necessary.
Then she had met John Ravenshire.
Against every expectation she had ever held, she had fallen in love.
He had awakened feelings she had never imagined herself capable of experiencing. For the first time, she had believed she might become one of the fortunate few who married not out of obligation, but out of genuine love.
She had trusted him.
She had given him everything.
The marriage that followed had destroyed every illusion she had ever possessed.
There had been no love. Only manipulation.
No tenderness. Only cruelty.
No companionship. Only suffering.
Even now, those memories lingered like old scars beneath healed skin, no longer bleeding, yet aching whenever they were disturbed.
Though she was sincerely happy for Adrian, she could not imagine herself ever placing that kind of trust in another man again.
Not after John, not after everything he had done.
But those thoughts remained unspoken.
How could she possibly explain them?
The marriage she remembered had never existed in this lifetime.
To everyone else, John Ravenshire was merely her betrothed, nothing more.
Only she remembered the life they had once shared.
Only she remembered how it had ended.
"What are you thinking about?" Adrian’s voice gently pulled her back to the present. "You became rather distant all of a sudden."
She looked up to find him studying her with quiet concern, his gaze searching her face for an answer.
For a brief moment, Cassandra considered dismissing the question altogether.
Instead, she exhaled softly, choosing a lie instead.
"I’ve been thinking about the rumors."
Adrian’s expression shifted ever so slightly.
Raising a brow, he asked, "The rumors?"
She nodded. "I’ve decided to look into them. I can’t allow people to think they can stain my reputation and get away with it."
Adrian knew that expression all too well.
Over the years, Cassandra had involved him in enough peculiar pursuits that he had learned to recognize it immediately.
Whenever she wore that calm, determined look, it invariably meant she had conceived yet another scheme. She rarely asked for his assistance, but when she did, the adventure that followed was seldom ordinary.
"I need your help," she said, finally voicing the very words she had kept tucked away in the back of her mind.
"I gathered as much," he replied coolly. "What are we doing this time?"
The request itself did not surprise him. What he couldn’t understand was why she had waited this long to act. Knowing Cassandra, he had expected her to begin investigating the rumors the moment they surfaced.