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filhadoboto · 13 days ago

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The chosen one

Summary: During the reading of his mother's will, Aleksander Morozov discovers that, so that his inheritance does not end up in the hands of his hated cousin Malyen Oretsev, he will have to get married within a year.

AO3

chapter 1; chapter 2; chapter 3; chapter 4; chapter 5; chapter 6; chapter 7

Chapter 8 - The Spy

Autumn passed much more quickly than Aleksander had expected and he had far less time than he had imagined he would have to enjoy his last months in his ancestral home.

Determined to spend as much of the next few months as possible at the Little Palace, only a small portion of the autumn was spent in social engagements. Some of the time was spent reviewing and examining, with the help of Ivan, Mr. Sokolov, and Mrs. Stepanova, all the documents and correspondence found in Baghra's studio, solving less urgent matters left pending because of her death, and making legal arrangements so that the extra payment of the employees would be made when Aleksander ceased to be the administrator of Morozov Hall.

In some of his moments away from his duties, Aleksander could count on Alina's company. At his and Ulla's insistence before leaving, Alina continued to practice on the piano and, when he could, Aleksander could not resist hanging around the music room when she was practicing. With the advice Ulla gave her, Alina improved her playing considerably. Before, her playing had been more mechanical, and now she made far fewer mistakes than before, and her playing seemed more alive and full of personality. During their practice sessions at the end of the summer, Ulla had told Alina that he played the violin, and at his sister's insistence, Aleksander had started playing again, and now he would sometimes join Alina and they would play together.

Two nights after Ulla's departure for Os Kervo, he had another nightmare that kept him awake once again. He got out of bed, hoping that the horrible images would not follow him, and without realizing it, his feet took him straight to the gallery. Although it was already past the time the maid usually made her visits to that place, he smiled when he saw a light in the large hall and recognized Alina's silhouette in front of the new painting. She was so immersed in its contemplation that she only noticed his presence when he was a few steps away from her.

“Your Grace!” she exclaimed, greeting him with her now familiar bright smile, but there was something akin to guilt in her beautiful brown eyes.

“Couldn't sleep?” he asked with a gentle smile and she nodded.

“I couldn’t calm my mind enough to fall asleep, so I decided to come here.” she replied in a guilty tone and asked, “Couldn’t sleep either?”

He thought about lying, but said with a smile, “I was woken up by nightmares and, since I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I decided to walk around a bit and my feet had the same idea as you.”

“I also often come here when I have nightmares. There’s something about it that makes me feel like I’m not alone, that love is near and I just need to reach out and touch it.” she said as she reached out her hand and he couldn’t help but notice that she could touch him if she wanted to. She looked back at the painting before adding, “And the more I examine it, the more detail I can see and the more impressive it becomes.”

Aleksander nodded, and for a few minutes the two of them stood side by side admiring and studying the painting in companionable silence. An idea crossed his mind and he almost voiced it. He almost offered to take her to Krupin’s studio in Caryeva so that she could not only meet him but have a chance to see his other paintings and ask the many questions she had about his work. Although this seemed like a generous offer to him, it was a very inappropriate offer that could be misinterpreted by her. The last thing he wanted was for Alina to leave the Little Palace with the wrong opinion of him.

Alina pulled him out of his thoughts when she broke the silence and began talking about the new details she had found and praising Krupin’s talent enthusiastically. Aleksander couldn’t help but look at the girl beside him. Alina always seemed to glow when she talked about something that excited her, and like a moth drawn to her light, he couldn’t help but feel even more drawn to her at times like these.

Not for the first time since his return from Caryeva, Aleksander remembered his conversation with Genya and couldn't help but wonder again if he was in love with the girl beside him or if it was simply a passing attraction like so many others he had had throughout his life. As hard as it was for him to admit, the truth was that not only would he miss moments like this and their conversations when he left Morozov Hall, he would also miss her, her presence, and everything about her. Perhaps he would miss her more than anything else.

Noticing his gaze, Alina stopped talking and looked at him too, her cheeks flushed and his heart raced as their eyes met. Not for the first time, Aleksander felt like he could drown in her eyes and he was afraid that in the heavy silence between them, Alina would hear the frantic beating of his heart. His mind conjured up such a realistic image of him closing the distance between them, taking her in his arms and kissing her that he could practically feel the heat of her body against his skin and the softness of her lips against his. Involuntarily, his eyes lingered on her lips for a few seconds before returning to her eyes.

Realizing he was still staring at her and fearing what she might have guessed of his thoughts through his expression, Aleksander felt his cheeks heat up, looked away, and hurriedly said, “I must retire now. Have a good night, Alina.”

“You too, Your Grace.” she replied, and he could have sworn he heard disappointment and sadness in her voice.

Aleksander gave her a nervous smile and left her hurriedly, trying to escape the images in his mind and everything he was undeniably and unmistakably feeling. It was only when he was back in his room, with the door closed behind him, that he allowed himself to take a deep breath and finally say out loud what his heart had been screaming for weeks and he had been refusing to hear.

“I’m not falling in love with Alina,” he whispered into the darkness of his room. “I’m deeply in love with her.”

But that admission didn't bring him any relief, nor did it make him happy or ecstatic as he had imagined he would be when he first fell in love. Aleksander spent years searching for love and ended up falling in love with the very woman he couldn't have, because she loved someone else.

Aleksander blamed their conversation, the images conjured by his mind, and the admission of his feelings for the dream he had that night. In the dream, the painting was alive. In the dream, he was the darkness and Alina was the light. In the dream, they finally overcame the distance that separated them and their hands finally touched. In the dream, he finally held her in his arms. In the dream he could finally feel her lips against his. In the dream, they finally became one and created something completely new and unique.

---

In the days and weeks that followed, Aleksander found himself growing closer and closer to Alina. And despite trying to stay away and clinging to their friendship to avoid his feelings growing stronger, he found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

Knowing that any romantic relationship between him and Alina was impossible, Aleksander tried hard to subdue his feelings. It was not an easy task, but he knew it was necessary. There were only a few months left before they would go their separate ways, and he hoped that when his eyes could no longer find her, when he could no longer hear her voice, Alina would be removed from his heart and thoughts.

But every time she smiled, his heart beat faster and the more he wanted to see her smile. Every time her eyes met his, he wished he could drown in them. Sometimes he wanted to say to her: I Can't stop thinking about you, Alina. No matter how hard I try, you're always on my mind. Or: You're in my head, even when you are not supposed to be. And you love someone else! It shouldn't be this hard to let go of you! And only the knowledge of how inappropriate those thoughts were stopped him.

Although it had crossed his mind to completely distance himself from her countless times, Aleksander convinced himself not to do so. Technically, Alina was his first love, and even though he knew she would never be his and that a separation was inevitable, he concluded that it would be better to carry the scars of unrequited love with him than to be a coward. So he kept talking, kept practicing the violin while she practiced the piano, kept creating memories and collecting moments that would comfort him when he could no longer see her.

In addition to their shared passion for art, during those autumn weeks they talked about literature and music as well. Aleksander loved reading about history, especially that of Ravka, while Alina enjoyed reading novels and poetry. It wasn’t long before he found himself talking about his family, his other relatives, his friends, his recent travels with them, and his past at the Little Palace. Alina listened to him as he spoke at length about Morozov Hall. As usual, he lost track of time when talking about something he loved, but she not only told him that she would like to know more and that she admired him for being such a good landlord to his tenants, but she also asked him several questions about the place and the people who lived there.

During those conversations in which they poured their hearts out to each other, Aleksander sometimes had the impression that he knew Alina even better than he knew himself, and it was not uncommon for him to go to sleep lamenting the fact that his love for her would never be reciprocated and that they would never be able to have a life together.

He also noticed that Alina didn't seem very comfortable when it came to the subject of her past, so he avoided asking questions and listened attentively when she volunteered something about it. And if at various times during their conversations or during their music practices he felt attracted and enchanted by her and tempted to tell Alina everything he felt for her, Aleksander preferred to ignore that feeling. Her affections were committed to another man and it was foolish of him to hope that the situation could change.

---

Autumn ended and winter arrived, bringing with it a new year and speculation and rumors about not only why he had not yet chosen a wife but also when he would make his choice.

As agreed, Aleksander spent the New Year with his sister. After spending the last two weeks with her and Genya in Os Kervo, being the object of attention of the single women he met and the subject of everyone's gossip, Aleksander was back at the Little Palace. For some reason, Genya had given up on making him fall in love, and he was so relieved that she hadn't even mentioned it again that he thought it best not to bring it up. So they spent those two weeks having fun and forgetting what was to come with the arrival of spring.

There were now about three months left until the deadline given by his mother, and so far, everything was going according to plan. Aleksander had decided that he would not make any announcement about his decision to give up his inheritance and everyone would find out when the deadline ended and everything passed into the hands of his stupid cousin. Well, everything except the Little Palace and everything inside it.

There would, of course, be much speculation on the subject, and he had no doubt that the families who had visited him or invited him to visit with the intention of having him choose their daughters as his wife would say that it was his excessive pride that had caused him to lose everything. They might even call him mad and be relieved that he had not chosen one of their daughters when they learned that he had set fire to his own home.

It wasn't just the deadline that was approaching. In a few months the winter fête would be held in Os Alta and he had no doubt that many people were believing that he had left the choice of his wife to that occasion, since the most important people from Ravka, as well as from other countries, would be in attendance and he would be able to choose a suitable wife to be the new Duchess Morozova from among the women present.

His invitation to the winter fête had arrived during his trip to Os Kervo, and along with it had come a letter from his friend Nikolai confirming his suspicions and informing him how excited the single girls of Os Alta were at the possibility that the rumor that he was planning to choose a wife from among those present at the ball was true. Furthermore, the bookmakers in town were quite busy with bets on his marriage.

According to his friend, there were bets on whether or not there would be a wedding. There were bets on who would get the Morozov family inheritance. Some bet that he would choose his bride during the winter fête, and others that he would arrive at the winter fête married. There were a few who bet that he had already secretly married and that he would introduce his wife to everyone at the ball. Others bet on whether the bride would be someone from Ravka or a foreigner. But the biggest volume of bets was on who would be his chosen one and, according to Kolya's information, of the many suitors listed by bookmakers, Genya was among the bettors' favorites, but Nikolai had bet that Aleksander would choose his bride at the ball.

Nikolai ended his letter by insinuating that if he wanted to marry for love, there was no better or more romantic place to fall in love than at a ball. Aleksander responded to Nikolai's letter by expressing his surprise at the existence of the bets and advising his friend to spend taxpayers' money more responsibly and to stop placing money on bets about his life.

After returning from a horse ride five days after his return from Os Kervo, Aleksander sat in his study to read his mail and saw that there was a wedding invitation. It was the invitation to Malyen and Zoya's wedding that would take place at the end of May and Aleksander couldn't help but think once again how perfect the two were for each other. He already knew about their engagement, which had happened at the beginning of autumn, but he didn't expect it would take so long for the wedding. Maybe Malyen wasn't too eager to give up his bachelor life, or maybe he wanted to wait until after Baghra's deadline and the definition of who would get the inheritance.

The invitation had been sent by his aunt, accompanied by a letter in which she expressed her wish that Ulla and he would attend the ceremony and that they should not forget that, despite everything that had happened between her and Baghra, they were still a family and should share both the good and the bad times. Aleksander did not know whether he would attend or not, but he would give them a beautiful wedding gift in early spring: the ruins of the Little Palace and the Morozov family fortune.

His aunt gave a long and detailed account of how Malyen was enchanted by his bride and how he would have married her already, but Miss Nazyalenskaya wanted a long engagement so that she would have time to organize the perfect wedding. His aunt described the girl as the most graceful and gentle woman in the world and that she could not have imagined a more perfect woman for her beloved Malyen. Aleksander did not know whether to believe it or not when he read that his cousin was so in love with Zoya that he spoke of nothing else but her.

Picking up the next envelope, Aleksander frowned when he saw that there was a letter to Miss Alina Starkova among his own. Assuming that it was one of his sister’s letters to the maid, who had been corresponding with her periodically since Ulla’s departure in early autumn, he turned the envelope over to see the sender’s name and froze in shock when he saw who it was: Malyen Oretsev.

His first thought was that this had to be a mistake . There was no way that Malyen knew Alina, much less that they corresponded. His second thought was that Alina and Malyen had grown up in Keranzim, and so there was a chance that they knew each other. And if they did, why had Alina never mentioned it when he told her about his family and his relationship with Margosha and Malyen? And why had Malyen written to Alina?

Wanting answers, Aleksander opened the envelope and read without hesitation. The first few sentences made him feel as if a hand had reached into his chest and ripped out his heart.

My sweet Alina, I beg you not to believe the malicious rumors that people are spreading about me. You have known me since we were children and you also know my situation intimately. You know that I am financially dependent on my beloved mother and I cannot go against her will until I become independent. It was not of my own free will, but of my mother's, that I agreed to be engaged to Miss Nazyalenskaya, but I assure you that she means nothing to me and that you are the only woman I have ever loved. My dear mother has vehemently rejected all my protests against the engagement, and has assured me that if I break off the engagement with Miss Nazyalenskaya, I shall be disinherited, and she will forget that she ever had a son. You know how much she loves me, and how such a heartbreak can kill her. I cannot knowingly cause such grief to my only family. As an orphan, I hope you understand my position, I beg your understanding with such a delicate matter and I beg you not to give up on us and much less on your mission to spy on Duke Morozov. You have no idea how my heart was torn apart when I read that the woman I love sympathizes so much with my enemy. In fact, the enemy of our happiness, Lina. I can understand your admiration and your desire to create a bond of friendship with my cousin Ulla, who is a sweet, kind and delicate girl, but I will never understand or be able to accept that you have any positive feelings for the only person who can destroy our dreams and prevent our plans from being realized. Or have you forgotten that we can only be together if I inherit Morozov Hall? Lina, you can't give up now! There's so little time left, we're so close to our goal, we're so close to being together! I need you to continue to be my eyes and ears in the Little Palace so that I can intervene when necessary. I need you to remember that i f you don't help me, you'll lose me completely, and then you'll regret this decision forever. If you don't help me stop my cousin from getting married, then I'll know that you never really loved me, that everything that happened between us was just you playing with me and my feelings. And I don't know how I'll be able to live without the certainty that I'm loved by you, my sweet Alina. I'd be lost without you, without your love! Is that what you want, Lina, for me to live in sentimental misery and material poverty? And how could you do that to someone you say you love? I must confess that your lack of trust in me and my intentions is destroying me! I need you to continue to trust me, just as you always have. Everything I am doing is to secure our future. I beg you, when your conscience troubles you, when your courage is shaken, to think of our life together and how happy we will be in the Little Palace. Once again I ask that you remember to burn this letter and be careful not to be discovered. With all my love, Mal.

For a few seconds Aleksander just stared at the letter, feeling too numb to feel anything else, his mind full of questions.

Unable to believe what he had just read, he read it again and realized that he had not misunderstood. Alina Starkova was in his house to spy on him and she was in collusion with his hated cousin to prevent Aleksander from getting married so his cousin could get the inheritance. And as if all this were not enough, the man Alina loved and who was waiting for her in Keramzin was Malyen! Of all the men in Ravka, of all the men in the world, Alina loved Malyen. Of all the women he could have fallen in love with, Aleksander fell in love with the woman who wanted to ruin him!

In the following minutes, several feelings fought for dominance within him. Disbelief. Betrayal. Bewilderment. Sadness. Anger. Disappointment. Disgust. Contempt. Hopelessness. Sorrow. Profound sorrow. And the feeling that ended up winning the fight was betrayal. Alina had entered his house, gained his trust, his friendship, his admiration just to be able to spy on him, to be able to help Malyen inherit Morozov Hall!

Aleksander felt his heart break as he faced the truth before him. It was as if something he had seen all this time as pure and beautiful hid a corrupt and ignoble interior. Every moment, every conversation they had held a hidden purpose. Alina was watching his every move to report everything to his enemy! While he had been sincere and had considered her someone he could trust, someone whose opinion he valued and respected, someone whose presence he would miss when they parted in the future, she was just playing a role.

Tears filled his eyes and he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. He had fallen in love with the woman who had come to his house to spy on him, and as if that wasn't enough, she loved his worst enemy! Would they have laughed at him if he had been so stupid as to tell her about his feelings? Would they have found a way to use those feelings against him?

He remembered the conversation he had had with the maid during Miss Nazyalenskaya's visit. At the time he had interpreted her questions and her relief that he was not interested in an engagement with Zoya as relief after the way she had been treated. But he was wrong. The maid had asked those questions and been relieved by his answer because she had been there to spy on him and she had probably reported it to his cousin immediately. She was relieved because each rejected suitor brought her closer to her goal: her marriage to Malyen.

He realized that this also explained part of her behavior and the great interest she took in everything he said about Morozov Hall: its history, its residents, its tenants, its beauty. Everything. Alina listened to this not as an admirer, but as someone who had the ambition to own it all in the future. Everything she asked was a kind of preparation for the day when she and Malyen would move to the Little Palace.

He remembered the comments Malyen had made during their meeting in Caryeva about his lack of success in finding a bride and then Aleksander realized that this letter was not the first, that the correspondence between them had been going on since she started working there. Following his intuition, he went to the servants' wing and entered the girl's room. Part of him believed that it would be a fruitless search given the recommendation to burn the letter, but the other part of him wanted to be sure that there was no more evidence before confronting the spy.

He scanned her room for possible hiding places and decided to start his search under the bed. As he approached the piece of furniture, he saw that there was a worn book on her pillow. Curious, he picked it up and saw that it was a book of poetry by a Shu author and, to his surprise, it was not a translation but a copy in the original language. He put it back where he found it and looked under the bed, where he found a battered hat box and picked it up.

Inside were several other letters and he identified the senders as Alexei Stepanov and Ulla Morozova and also a bundle of letters bound together with a gold ribbon, the sender of which was a man named Kirill Ilyin. That name made him suspect that those were the letters he was looking for, as Kirill was Malyen's father's name and Ilyin probably referred to their grandfather, Ilya. Aleksander took the pack, undid the ribbon holding the letters, opened the first one and confirmed his suspicion. Kirill Ilyin was a pseudonym used by Malyen to correspond with Alina and not arouse suspicion.

Inside the box he also found an old book bound in brown leather and upon opening it he discovered that it was a sketchbook. Curious, he leafed through it and was impressed by the spy's talent. Every inch of each page was taken up with drawings of people, animals and plants and it was easy to see how her drawing had improved over time as he moved from one page to the next.

There were several sketches of his detestable cousin in the first few pages, and just as he was about to close it, he saw a drawing of a profile that was completely familiar to him, and upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a drawing of his face. From the date, the girl had done it the week she had started working there. Unable to contain himself, he kept turning the pages and saw that there were more drawings of him, as well as some of Ulla.

Alina drew him from many angles, but she seemed to have a preference for drawing his profile and his hands. He remembered how, on several occasions, he had the impression that she was looking at him and studying his face as if she wanted to memorize his features, and now he understood that she did this because she was drawing him. Aleksander continued leafing through and found among the pages what appeared to be drafts of several letters, but none of them had any indication of when Alina had written them. Some had crossed out but legible lines, and others were completely illegible. On the first sheet he examined there was only one legible sentence, 'Saints, I love him more than I thought I could love anyone and I don't know what to do with all this love.' and everything else had been crossed out so that he could not make out a single letter.

That simple sentence hit him with the force of a horse at full gallop and left him breathless for a few seconds. Aleksander did his best to stay calm and not let the pain in his heart and the anger spill out of his eyes in the form of tears. He knew very well who this person Alina loved was and the more he read the more he realized what she had been and was capable of doing to get married to the man she loved.

On the second sheet she had written:

Sometimes I see a shadow of sadness and mourning crossing Duke Morozov's face and I feel that there is something weighing on his heart.

Despite himself, Aleksander was struck by how correct her perception was. And this observation made him feel even more hurt, as she had been spying on him this whole time and, most likely, getting close to him to the point of knowing him so well was part of her plan all along.

Sometimes I also see regret on his face and I can't help but wonder what could be causing him to feel such feelings. Could it be that he did something that displeased his late mother and now he is regretting it and not being able to ask for her forgiveness torments him? I wish I could ask him what's bothering him, I wish I could help him get rid of his sadness and grief, but I know I don't have that right. Even though I feel so guilty about what I'm doing here, I'm still a spy, a traitor. I came to the Little Palace with the intention of harming him, and even if one day he and his sister find out everything and are generous and forgive me, I will carry that guilt with me forever.

That admission of guilt caused a jolt to the anger he was feeling, so he turned to the next sheet where he read:

Mal, I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. I feel guilty for deceiving Duke Morozov and whenever he is kind to me I feel like telling him the whole truth. For the past few days I have been plagued by terrible nightmares where the Duke unmasks me and humiliates me in front of everyone in Morozov Hall. As fair and kind as he is to everyone, I fear that this might be his reaction if he discovers my true intention here.

Reading about her fear of his reaction made him wonder what he would do to her after confronting her. Would he simply demand that she leave the Little Palace immediately? Or would he give her a chance to defend herself, to explain herself? And was there any way she could defend herself? He had just read her admission of guilt, but feeling guilty didn’t undo her actions.

You told me he was a terrible person, that he was a monster , the villain of our story, but nothing I saw here confirmed your words. Your cousin's reputation here in the region is the opposite of everything you told me. And every day I spend with him, I see with my own eyes that he is an upright, sensible, honest, generous, benevolent, good and kind man. Every employee and every person I know outside the Little Palace has something good to say about him, including myself. I still cannot understand what kind of fault the late Duchess Morozova found in her son to make her formulate and add that clause to her will. No matter how hard I look for a reason, I cannot find it.

Despite his anger, Aleksander couldn't help but feel a pang of pride knowing that Alina had formed her own judgment of him and couldn't understand why his mother had left the clause in the will. He had no doubt that it would be nearly impossible for anyone who didn't know Baghra Morozova to understand her decision, much less come to the conclusion that that clause had been left with the sole purpose of controlling him one last time.

Duke Morozov is one of the most generous and kind people I have ever met in my life. And when I think about how you lied about him, I can't help but wonder what other lies you told me to convince me to help you. Were your kisses real? Were your vows of love sincere? I don't know what I will do if you don't choose me after everything I have done, after everything that has happened between us.

So, had Malyen tricked her into coming here to spy on him? And what exactly had happened between them before she went to the Little Palace?

On another sheet of paper Alina had written:

I love you so much, Mal. I love you so much that sometimes I feel like I'll die if I'm not with you. I'll never be able to love another man as much as I love you. If you and I fail, if we have to be separated forever, I know I'll live an unhappy and empty existence, because I'll always compare every other man who comes into my life to you.

If at any time Aleksander's heart had harbored any hope that there might be some chance of one day seeing his affection reciprocated by Alina, it withered and died upon reading those words.

Being away from you is terrible, Mal. It's like a part of me is missing and your letters are my only comfort, they help me stay steadfast in my mission. They remind me that I'm doing all this for both of us, so that we can have a future together. But the more days pass, the more afraid I am that you will be taken away from me because of your love for your mother. I know you love her and I know how much you suffer when she is sad, but I can't help but wonder if she will accept me as your wife or will she disown us. I remember how she told me that her biggest wish right now was for you to find a good match, get married and give her lots of grandchildren and I want so much to be that woman for you! But you and I are from such different worlds that I fear you will never be able to fulfill the promises you made to me.

So not only did Alina know Malyen, she also knew his aunt Margosha! Had the three of them planned for Alina to go to the Little Palace?

Something very much like possessiveness and jealousy roared in his chest, but Aleksander did his best to ignore it and continued reading.

You once told me you loved me, Mal. Remember that? You told me you loved me right before I gave myself to you.

Aleksander stared at the passage for a few seconds, unable to believe what he had read. So that was what she was referring to! Alina not only loved Malyen, but she had given herself to him before going to the Little Palace.

And right before I left for Morozov Hall, you told me that this love was enough and that you would turn your back on your mother if she wasn't your only family. I would never ask you to give up your family, because I grew up without one and I know how painful life is without one, but I don't feel secure in your love for me. Sometimes I feel like the person who wrote the letters I receive is not the same person who swore eternal love to me.

Below was a crossed out but legible passage:

I am so afraid that you will choose another woman and abandon me even if you inherit the Morozov family fortune. But how could I blame you for choosing another woman? I am just a poor orphan. I have no fortune. I have no beauty. I have no important acquaintances. I have my parents' name, but I have no memory of their faces or their names. I dishonored myself when I gave myself to you and came to this place to do something dishonorable as a proof of my love for you, and I have nothing left to give you.

Aleksander felt himself freeze. Alina had given herself to Mal as proof of her love for him. Had Malyen demanded this of her, or was it her idea? Knowing his cousin as he did, Aleksander suspected it had been Malyen's idea. But perhaps Alina herself had done it in the hope that it would be enough to bind Malyen to her and the promises he had made to her.

On another sheet Alina had written:

I know we've already talked about this, but everyone is talking about how close you are to Miss Nazyalenskaya, and I myself read in the paper that you are always seen together in society. People are commenting on how beautiful and elegant she is and how the union between the two of you is expected, but I met her during her visit to the Little Palace and she is as horrible a person as she is beautiful. Even if you hadn't made me any promises, as your friend, I need to warn you that she will never make you happy even with all the wealth she has.

Then there was a huge section that was smudged with what looked like tears and the rest had been scratched so hard that it almost ripped the page, as if Alina regretted having put her thoughts on paper.

Aleksander couldn't help but think about how Alina must be suffering from this situation. It was quite clear that she loved Malyen and he was officially engaged to someone else. According to the invitation he had received, Malyen and Zoya's wedding would take place in the spring, and in the letter his aunt had sent along with the invitation, she had mentioned that Miss Nazyalenskaya was already arranging her trousseau in Os Alta and her parents were looking for a suitable residence to give them as a wedding present. Even the marriage contract was already being negotiated, and at that stage it would take a very big scandal to make Zoya give up on Malyen. And Aleksander believed that the only thing that would make Malyen give up on marrying Zoya was if he found a girl with a much bigger fortune.

There was another sheet, also without a date, and this, added to everything Aleksander had already read, made him wonder whether they were drafts of letters or if they were her venting. However, venting or not, he did not hesitate to continue reading.

I think it is time for me to leave the Little Palace. Your cousin has shown no interest in marriage, and I think he has given up, if he ever really considered fulfilling the clause left by his mother. As I have informed you in previous letters, he has made several trips and returned without a bride. He received many people interested in establishing a commitment, but he refused them. He also received many invitations to visit various families and returned from the visits without having committed to any of them. I don't think he's waiting for the winter fête to find a wife as you and many other people suspect. I watch him closely every day and he doesn't strike me as a man desperate to get a wife. From the way he looks at everything around him and talks to me about everything, I get the impression that he is a man who has already accepted his fate and has begun to say goodbye to everything that is dear to him. As I have already informed you, during Miss Morozova's last visit, the two of them seemed to be saying goodbye to the Little Palace. I have no doubt that you will emerge as the victor in the end, Mal. And you won't even need to take any drastic action to ensure that.

Drastic action? Malyen had written something along those lines in his letter, but what did it mean? Was his cousin planning to kill him to ensure that the inheritance would go to him? If Aleksander died before the deadline, Ulla was the next legal heir to the Morozov family and everything would go to her, since the clause only applied to him and their mother had not disinherited Ulla in the will. That was the only good news Ivan had managed to give him about the will. So, could Malyen have any intention of doing something against the hypothetical bride chosen by Aleksander? And if so, could that also be part of the spy's mission? Would the girl he had known during those months be capable of killing someone just for the promise of marrying Malyen?

The girl you met was just an illusion, a character she created to deceive you., a voice whispered in his mind and knowing that it was right, knowing that he had fallen in love with someone who didn't exist caused him even more pain and suffering.

The last sentence on the page simply said: You will come out victorious in all this, Mal, but what will become of me?

Not far away, a noise in the hallway reminded him of where he was and his mission there. Not wanting to be found there by Alina before reading the other letters sent by his cousin or being seen by any other employee, he took the bundle of letters and put it in his pocket. Then he put the rest back in the box, put it back where he had found it, went back to his study and began to read them.

From Malyen’s letters, it was obvious that Alina had told him about everything she had witnessed since her arrival at Morozov Hall. The people who had visited him at the Little Palace and the people he had agreed to visit. She had told him about his visit to Ulla and her visit in the summer. She had told his cousin about her closeness to both him and his sister.

Something he had also noticed as he read was the manipulative tone in Malyen’s letters. Just like the first letter Aleksander read, his cousin's words in those letters sounded manipulative and gave the impression that it would be Alina's fault if their plan failed and they couldn't be together in the future.

It was already dark when he read the last letter and reading them filled him with even more anger, but this time the anger was directed mainly at his cousin. Aleksander was willing to give up everything he loved to benefit the person he hated the most as a final act of rebellion against his mother. But knowing that Malyen was acting and willing to do anything to stop him from getting married, which could include murdering him and his sister, made him so angry that he changed his mind. Aleksander still had three months to find a bride and get married and that was what he would do after dealing with Alina!

Alina. He had started reading those letters feeling angry at the girl, but his feelings became increasingly conflicted, ranging from anger to pity, from rage to sympathy.

Reading those letters confirmed and made several things even clearer to him. Alina Starkov was not only in love with his cousin, but had given herself to him. Malyen had encouraged the girl's feelings for him and had filled the poor girl's head with promises of marriage and marital happiness while using his mother as an excuse for a possible future separation between them. Alina was there of her own free will, but even in his first letters it was clear that she had expressed discomfort with the situation and her desire to stop. Just as in the most recent letter, his cousin used his alleged feelings to manipulate her, to make her continue to collaborate.

Anger was joined by frustration. Aleksander could not understand how Alina, a clever and intelligent girl, could not see that she was being used and manipulated by Malyen! But the worst of all was that she was there, under his roof, to spy on him and do everything she could to prevent him from getting married before the deadline his mother had set because she believed that Malyen would marry her when he inherited Morozov Hall.

But Aleksander knew that Malyen would never keep his promise. His aunt Margosha was extremely permissive and indulgent and spoiled Malyen even more than she had been spoiled by her own parents and husband. From his experience with them, Aleksander knew that Margosha believed every word her son said and always defended him. Malyen had not become the person he was just because of himself. His mother never corrected him, never set limits for him, and encouraged all his vices, because that was how she had been raised by her parents.

So he knew that what his cousin had written in that letter about needing to obey his mother's wishes, about not having financial independence, and about his fear of losing his mother if he made a bad marriage were lies. Kyrill Oretsev had been a very successful merchant and had left a good fortune to his son, which, combined with Margosha's inheritance, left them both in a very good financial position. If Malyen had really wanted to marry Alina, he would not have encountered any resistance from his mother.

“You are a deluded fool, Alina Starkova.” he said to himself. “How can a woman as intelligent as you fail to see the truth that is right before your eyes? How have you remained blind to his true nature all these years?”

Malyen had left a trail of broken hearts and dishonored young women wherever he went in the past few years. There were even rumors that he had fathered a few bastards as well. However, the women who were supposedly carrying his bastards had been married off quickly and, Aleksander suspected, probably sponsored and silenced by the Oretsev family’s money.

Aleksander even heard rumors about his hated cousin having seduced a married woman who lived in the capital and been her lover for an entire winter. He did not doubt that his cousin was capable of this, but since no proof had ever been presented, he simply ignored the rumor. Although he hated Malyen, Aleksander was not the type of person to spend his precious time chasing rumors about his enemy. As the heir, he had too much to oversee, and he liked to use his free time for personal improvement.

After organizing his thoughts and deciding how to handle the situation, he asked one of the maids to tell Alina that he wanted to speak with her and waited.

He felt a pang of betrayal and sorrow when Alina entered and bowed to him, and it was with great effort that he kept his expression impassive. The least he expected from the people who worked for him was loyalty. If not because they respected him or liked him, then at least because he paid a good salary and was a fair employer. Ever since the visit of the Nazyaliesky family and their various conversations in the gallery of the Little Palace he had come to consider the girl a loyal and trustworthy person and now he had discovered that not only her loyalty but also her heart belonged to his enemy.

“Did you want to see me, Your Grace?” she asked as an uncomfortable silence filled the space between them.

“Yes, Alina.” he replied, and held up the recent letter addressed to her for the spy to see before explaining, “Somehow your correspondence with my cousin, Malyen Oretsev, got mixed up with mine.”

Alina stared at the letter and turned pale when she realized what he was holding, then her expression filled with a mix of panic and disbelief.

“Please, take it.” he encouraged. “I imagine you must be curious to know what he wrote. Maybe even eagerly awaiting his answer.” he added in a calmer tone than he felt.

She hesitated for a few seconds, but eventually walked over to him and took the letter. Her face paled even more when she saw that the envelope was open and what that meant.

“You read it.” she whispered in astonishment, and there was a mix of alarm and accusation in her expression.

He nodded once and watched as she took it out of the envelope and read the letter anxiously, as if she feared whatever was written there. Even if she had indeed destroyed the other letters as Malyen had instructed, the contents of the one letter in her hands were clear enough for him to understand what was happening. But he had read all the others and discovered many things that he had no doubt she wished he never knew.

“I am not in the habit of reading other people’s mail, but I was extremely curious as to why one of the maids in my house received a letter from my enemy.” He said in a cold, reproachful tone when she finished reading and looked at him apprehensively. “I would even apologize for such a reprehensible act on my part, but I ended up discovering that you two have been corresponding since you started working here, as well as discovering your true intentions.” he continued and showed her the stack of letters he had found among her belongings.

The girl’s eyes widened and he saw fear in them as she recognized the stack of letters in his possession.

Heartbroken and with his trust in her turned to dust, Aleksander said, “You are here, Alina Starkova, to spy on me.”

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