“Walk with me, Lady Ashwell.”

“I have not agreed to walk anywhere with you,” you answered.

“No,” he agreed, “you have not, but I suspect you will anyway. Your lady-in-waiting is watching us very closely from the gate, and if you turn around and leave after only four minutes, she will report it to your mother by supper and your mother will then tell the Queen, and neither of us wants to receive that letter.”

He offered you his arm, “Ten minutes, my lady. One walk around the fountain and I promise I will not smoke.”

You looked at his arm and then looked past him towards the gate. Daisy stood exactly where he said, watching the two of you without even trying to hide it.

You sighed before finally accepting his offer, “Ten minutes,” you did not take his arm, but began walking beside him anyway, “not a moment longer.”

“Understood,” Jungkook nodded. 

To Jungkook, it seemed only fitting that you were so detached from the real world, especially when your father was among the nobles on his kill list.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

a/n: this takes place on the night before

Last night, you spent several hours thinking about how to best ensure that the Queen’s plan of arranged marriage between you and the Duke of Jeon will never progress beyond its first meeting.

Sometime after midnight, you turned off the lights in your room and lit up a candle. With the candle on your desk burned down to its final parts of wax and a book lying open before you, you came up with three possible plans.

Plans you believed might drive Captain Jungkook into a realisation that you were entirely unsuitable for him.

All three plans were based on a conclusion you’ve found: soldiers and noblemen value dignity above nearly everything else. Men throughout the Kingdom of Leon also have this obsession for appearing to be in control. They liked their households to be orderly, wives agreeable, and reputations free from anything negative. 

This then led you to believe that there is no faster way to repel a man who cares deeply about dignity than to demonstrate that you have none yourself.

Therefore, a man such as Captain Jeon Jungkook who is disciplined enough to command an entire regiment, would surely find the idea of being seen beside a woman who did not know how to behave like a proper lady, entirely unbearable.

You see no flaw or logical fallacies in your plan.

Once your plan was put into action, Jungkook would return to his regiment that very evening, inform his men that the Queen has made an extraordinary error, and write to Her Majesty himself requesting that the arrangement be cancelled. This would spare you the trouble of writing a letter to the Queen.

You could even imagine the relief on your father’s face once the Queen cancels this arrangement as the match would end through no fault of House Ashwell. It would end solely because Captain Jungkook could not stand the strange behaviour of the Ashwell’s youngest daughter, which is fortunately for everyone involved, was something most people already expected of you.

After coming up with these plans last night, you felt rather satisfied with yourself.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

a/n: back to the present

Walking beside Jungkook now, with the trickling sound of the fountain nearby and the trees shielding the two of you from the grey sky above, you decided there was no better time to put the first part of your plan into action.

You raised your left hand, slowly removed the glove covering it, and began picking your nose in the middle of the park.

It was not something any proper lady ought to do in public, and certainly not in front of the man she was expected to marry.

And you had chosen to carry out this perfect plan with Captain Jeon Jungkook, Duke of Jeon, walking at your side with his hands clasped neatly behind his back.

Jungkook glanced at you and did not so much as blink.

Perfect, you thought to yourself. 

That single glance from the Captain was surely proof enough that your plan had work. Captain Jungkook is, after all, simply another man who imagined himself marrying the perfect lady, and the perfect lady does not pick her nose in the middle of a public park. 

So you have done it.

You have successfully driven him away from the thought of proceeding with this marriage and you couldn’t help feeling rather proud of the lady you’ve become. All those years spent reading and studying did not fail you. 

Education truly is the most powerful weapon.

Jungkook had to suppress his laugh. He was impressed by the lengths you were willing to go to avoid marrying him. To his credit, if Jungkook was not attempting to bring down the Kingdom of Leon and if he didn’t need you to be his pawn, Jungkook might have been equally determined to avoid marrying you.

He noticed the people passing nearby beginning to look at you. A woman slowed down as she walked past, one of the elderly gentlemen near the fountain lowered his newspaper, and many others were glancing at you. So it would not take long for the story to travel from the park to someone with access to the palace. Then, by evening, half of the city might believe that Lady Ashwell and the Duke of Jeon were entirely unsuited to one another. And by nighttime, the Queen might believe it too. 

Jungkook understood your plan perfectly. And as a Captain known throughout the kingdom for his strategies, Jungkook did what he believed was necessary to preserve a marriage that must proceed.

Jungkook lifted his right hand, removed the glove, and did precisely the same thing.

You first caught his movement on your peripheral view. When you turned your head towards him and realised what he was doing, you stopped walking. 

"What are you doing, Captain?" you asked. 

“The same thing you are doing,” Jungkook replied, “I have always wondered what it would be like to pick my nose in a public setting. Lady Ashwell, you are remarkably brave.”

You looked at him in disbelief, while Jungkook stared back at you entirely unbothered, as if this was perfectly ordinary, “Captain, may I ask how you are not bothered by my improper action?” you asked.

“Why should I be?” Jungkook said, “I imagine everyone wishes to break the rules occasionally.”

“It is common decency, Captain, to not to do such a thing in public,” you answered, reminding him of common etiquettes. 

“I have only just done the very same as you, Lady Ashwell,” Jungkook said, tilting his head slightly.

“I had an urge,” you replied, looking away from him.

“As did I,” Jungkook said.

You realised rather late that starting your carefully devised plan by picking your nose in the middle of a public park might have been too reckless an opening move. Even worse, it seemed to have failed entirely. Maybe, as a Captain, Jungkook has already witnessed sights far more unpleasant and improper than a lady picking her nose, and therefore found the act to be normal.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

So you moved to the second method you had devised the night before.

“Captain Jungkook,” you said, turning your head towards him, “perhaps this meeting would be more delightful if you could tell me a joke.”

Jungkook looked at you, surprised at the sudden interest, “A joke?”

“Yes,” you said, “something amusing.”

“I do not consider myself a particularly humorous man,” Jungkook replied.

“Oh, do try!” you urged, “surely the youngest Captain in the kingdom has at least one joke.”

Jungkook looked at you for a few seconds, evidently suspicious of the sudden request, before finally agreeing, “Very well, lady.”

Jungkook had to consider which joke a lady such as yourself would be most likely to dislike, then remembered one Seokjin had told him, “A royal physician once asked a knight, ‘Do you still talk to yourself?’”

Jungkook paused, allowing you time to think of an answer before continuing the joke, “The knight replied, ‘No, we had an argument.’”

You laughed, loudly.

It was an undignified laugh, far louder than the joke deserved, and ending in a snort so unrefined that even you were faintly startled by it. It was precisely the sort of sound your mother had spent years in your childhood training you not to make.

Surely such a loud and undignified laugh would be enough to make Captain Jungkook reconsider the marriage. There was simply no possibility that he would willingly spend the rest of his life with a woman who picked her nose in public and then laughed like a madwoman.

Once again, you felt rather proud of yourself. This was without question, the finest plan you have ever devised. You could not help offering a silent prayer of thanks to the Gods above for giving you a father who cared so deeply about his daughters’ education.

You were brilliant.

At least, that was what you believed until Captain Jungkook began laughing in precisely the same manner.

His laugh was loud, graceless, and followed by a snort, a few snorts even, that were so remarkably similar to yours that you stopped smiling altogether.

Jungkook understood what you were attempting to do almost as soon as the first unnatural sound left your mouth. You were not behaving badly because you lacked manners, but you were behaving badly because you wanted Jungkook to believe that you did, and Jungkook found this considerably more interesting.

It was funny to him that you spent the first minutes of meeting him insulting his profession, refusing his arm, and attempting to make yourself appear so unsuitable that he would withdraw from the arrangement himself. 

Jungkook glanced towards the people nearby. Several heads already turned to look at the two of you, and one woman was whispering something to her companion behind a gloved hand. If Jungkook appeared embarrassed, offended, or eager to distance himself from you, those witnesses would leave the park believing that the meeting had been a disaster.

That was precisely what you wanted, and what Jungkook could not let you have. So he laughed as loudly as you did, even snorted a few times, and then he looked at you as if he was completely entertained by his future wife.

Now, anyone watching would not see an ill-mannered lady humiliating a respectable Captain and Duke. They would see two equally strange people enjoying one another’s company.

Jungkook smiled at the horror spreading across your face.

Your plan did not merely fail, Jungkook has made it evident that the Queen’s matchmaking was once again, perfect.

“You are mocking me,” you said.

“We have the same laugh,” Jungkook replied, “though I understand your confusion to me mocking you. I imagine no one has laughed the same way you do before.”

“No one laughs in such a manner, it is entirely improper,” you added.

“And yet here we both are,” Jungkook said, “I would say that makes us rather well suited, would you not? Perhaps the Queen was onto something after all.”

“The Queen,” you continued, “has clearly never heard either of us laugh.”

“I should hope not. I do not believe Her Majesty could withstand it,” Jungkook replied.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

You narrowed your eyes at Jungkook.

You could not believe that a man such as him truly laughed that way. 

A Captain who carried himself with such irritating composure, who even sat straight while smoking, could not possibly possess a laugh that sounded so remarkably like your fake laugh. 

He was lying. You figured Jungkook had seen through your plan and decided to imitate you and you refused to allow him the satisfaction.

Very well, you thought to yourself. This was precisely why you had prepared a third plan, in case the other two did not work. 

You began walking in the strangest manner you could, swinging your arms with exaggerated movements.

Jungkook, without missing a step, adopted the very same walk beside you.

A fully grown Captain and Duke was now marching down the central path of Darlington Park like a clown. And beside him was another duke’s daughter doing precisely the same thing.

“This is ridiculous,” you said, finally coming to a stop.

“Entirely,” Jungkook agreed as the two of you began walking normally, “but I have concluded that you are considerably more interesting than the Queen’s letter suggested. I do not believe that was a compliment I wanted to give, so I would ask that you not enjoy it too much.”

"I am not enjoying anything," you said.

"Of course not," Jungkook said.

You passed the hedge the groundskeeper has abandoned as he focused on the two of you. Then you noticed the two elderly gentlemen had also by now given up every subtlety and were staring openly at you and Captain Jungkook. While another pair of young women walking arm in arm began whispering the moment the two of you passed them.

"I do not understand," you finally said frustratedly, "why can you not recognise the service I am attempting to do for us both?”

Jungkook glanced at you but said nothing.

“I am trying to spare you a lifetime of me, Captain. Of every ridiculous and improper thing I might do between now and whatever unfortunate day we are made to stand before an altar together,” you continued. 

You gestured between the two of you before adding, “I am offering you the opportunity to walk away with your dignity entirely intact and inform the Queen that we are catastrophically unsuited to one another. You could be free of this arrangement within the week, if only you would cooperate instead of imitating every foolish thing I attempt.”

In another life, Jungkook might have thanked you for the escape you were offering him. But not in this one.

In this life, he had a kingdom to overthrow, and however little he liked you, he needed the marriage to proceed.

"Marriage with me wouldn't be so bad," Jungkook said.

"Yes," you muttered, "you are right. It would be worse."

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

You have barely taken two steps when a voice called the two of you from the direction of the gate.

“Captain Jeon! And Lady Ashwell, is it not?”

You and Jungkook turned around to find a man approaching the two of you. He wore a finely tailored grey coat and carried a walking stick, swinging it with unnecessary enthusiasm. 

You didn’t recognise him immediately, but your sister Margot had mentioned him once or twice over dinner, though it took awhile for you to remember who he was. 

“Viscount Lee,” Jungkook said, bowing his head, “what an unexpected pleasure.”

“Duke,” Viscount Lee replied as he reached you, looking between the two of you with curiosity. It was the sort of look that made it perfectly clear he intended to remember every detail of the encounter, “I confess, I did not know the two of you were so well acquainted.”

“We are not,” you said.

“Darling,” Jungkook said, turning towards you as he put a hand over his heart as if you'd struck him there directly with a thunder, “you wound me!”

You stared at him in shock and disgust.

And your mouth opened to correct him and to explain to Viscount Lee that whatever he believed he had just witnessed was a misrepresentation of the truth. But Jungkook did not give you the opportunity to do so.

“Her Majesty has chosen us for one another,” Jungkook said smoothly, his hand falling from his chest to rest briefly at your back. The gesture was so natural, and so entirely unexpected, that you nearly stepped forward from the surprise of it.

“Today is our first meeting and it appears, Viscount, that we are rather compatible,” Jungkook added, smiling at you.

“I can see that,” Viscount Lee said, “it was quite a sight, watching the two of you. I confess I stopped to observe for rather longer than I intended, even your gestures appeared to match, Captain. I do not believe I have ever witnessed such a thing between two people who have only just met!”

“We are told the Queen is rarely mistaken in these matters,” Jungkook said.

“Evidently not,” Viscount Lee proudly agreed, before turning towards you, “Lady Ashwell, I must admit, I have heard that you kept almost entirely to your books and rarely ventured beyond your father’s library. It is a pleasure to discover that the rumours were somewhat exaggerated.”

“They were not exaggerated,” you replied, “I do keep to my books, Viscount. This morning was an exception.”

“She possesses a remarkable number of exceptions, as it happens. I have had the privilege of witnessing several of them already,” Jungkook said.

Viscount Lee appeared delighted by what he was hearing, though you could hear the mockery beneath the Captain’s words.

“Have you indeed?” Viscount Lee asked, “you must tell me, Captain-”

“I am afraid Lady Ashwell is expected home,” Jungkook interrupted with such ease that the Viscount appeared not to notice he had been interrupted at all, “and I would not wish to keep her from her family any longer.”

“You understand, of course. A man in my position must be terribly careful about appearances, particularly where a lady’s reputation is concerned,” Jungkook said, offering the Viscount an apologetic smile.

“Of course,” Viscount Lee said, though his eyes remained upon you for a moment longer, “I shall not keep either of you. Though I confess, Captain, I shall be very interested to see how this arrangement develops. The entire city will be interested, I imagine, once word begins to spread.”

“I imagine it will,” Jungkook replied.

Viscount Lee bowed first to you and then to Jungkook before continuing down the path, satisfied with the acquired gossip for his evening conversation. The moment he was out of sight, you turned to look at Jungkook.

“Darling?” you repeated.

"A normal term of endearment, Lady Ashwell, nothing more," Jungkook said, entirely unbothered.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

You walked another few steps in silence before asking him another question,  "Just answer me. Why?" 

"My lady?"

“Why do you wish for this arrangement to continue?” you asked, “you have made it perfectly clear this morning that you find it every bit as inconvenient as I do. You did not ask for it any more than I did, and yet you have spent the entire morning doing precisely the opposite of what one might expect.”

You turned towards the Captain, “By every indication you have given me, you are actively attempting to keep this marriage alive rather than allowing it to die quietly, as we both so clearly wish it would.”

You looked into his eyes as you stated, “I would like to know why.”

Jungkook could not tell you the truth. He could not say that you were just a useful piece on a chessboard. He could not explain that marrying into House Ashwell might provide the revolutionists with a way into the secret meetings they had spent years attempting to infiltrate, or that it might bring him closer to the nobles whose names filled the list hidden inside his uniform.

Jungkook certainly could not tell you that the marriage might give them the information the revolutionists needed to begin dismantling the kingdom’s ruling order and move against the powerful men who have protected it for so long.

So Jungkook gave you the most convincing answer he could think of, though he knew any lady would not take it well, including you.

“Because if I am to be married, I would rather it be to one of the prettiest daughters society currently has to offer than gamble on whatever wife I might be handed next. You are considered a great beauty in society, my lady. I am a practical man, I have thought about this arrangement and concluded that it is a favourable one, that is why,” Jungkook stated.

You did not know what to say, so you just stared at him.

For a moment, you thought you had misheard.

Perhaps you didn’t hear some part of the conversation. You almost asked Captain Jungkook to repeat himself, simply to be certain that did not misheard or misunderstood. But the expression on his face told you that you have heard him perfectly.

“What a disgusting pig you are,” you said, looking at him with disgust, “Truly, soldiers are a sore upon society and I am beginning to understand again precisely why.”

The look on Jungkook’s face changed and for one brief moment you saw that you had finally struck him somewhere it hurt. It was the first insult you have managed to hurt him with all morning.

“You asked, my lady,” Jungkook replied, “and I gave you an honest answer as I did not take you for the sort of woman who preferred to be lied to.”

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

The study at the Jeon townhouse looked the same as it had the night before. The same tall windows stood behind the heavy curtains, keeping most of the grey afternoon light from entering the room, and the books and reports scattered around the long table.

Jimin was there when Jungkook returned, seated in the chair nearest the door with a book open on his lap that he did not appear to actually be reading, and Seokjin claimed his usual spot by the fire, boots propped up on the table. And both of them looked up the moment Jungkook entered.

"Well," Seokjin said, not bothering to move his boots, "Captain J, it’s nice to see you're alive. I confess I did not expect you back quite so soon. I assumed a proper courtship would require at least a full morning of exchanging poetries and longing glances."

Jungkook walked across the room without answering his man. He pulled his gloves off, and set them down beside the letter from the Crown still sitting on his desk. Then poured himself a whisky and sat on the chair behind the desk.

"Well?" Jimin asked, setting his book aside.

"It went as I expected," Jungkook said.

Seokjin raised his eyebrow, "That's it? Did you not promise me a story?"

"There is a story," Jungkook answered, “The youngest daughter of House Ashwell is more intelligent than the letter suggested and considerably more stubborn than I anticipated. She stood up for herself, even called me an arrogant prick in the process. Then she spent the walk attempting to convince me and the society that we were unsuited by behaving as badly as she could in public. I had to do the same as her at every turn so nothing negative about our match reach the Queen’s ears. I had to do it for the sake of the revolutionists and it worked well enough. I believe Viscount Lee is repeating the story to half the city as we speak and none of it unfavorably."

"So the marriage will proceed?" Jimin asked.

"The marriage proceeds," Jungkook agreed.

Seokjin waited a moment, clearly expecting more, but when he realised his Captain was not going to say anything more, he asked, "That's genuinely all? By the look on your face when you walked in, I felt I was owed considerably more entertainment than this."

"There is one concern. Lady Ashwell has very strong opinions on soldiers and has clearly read a great deal on the Kingdom, considering how quickly she turned an argument about our profession into an argument about who faced the consequences from it,” Jungkook replied.

He looked around at the men gathered before continuing, “I despise her. Not because she called me an arrogant prick, I have been called worse. But I despise her for how easily and naively she formed the opinions she holds.”

Jungkook turned the glass once in his hand, watching the whisky swirling around, “She has spent her entire life in a mansion, protected by the very men she considers shameful, and has never once understood what her comfort costs us soldiers. It is easy to call soldiers a stain upon the kingdom when one has never gone without because of what they protect.”

Jungkook set the glass down as he continued, “But she is not stupid and that is precisely the problem. A foolish woman could live beneath this roof and notice nothing. Lady Ashwell reads, questions, and speaks whenever she believes something is wrong. She will not ignore a house full of men gathering in the study every week. The war gave us an excuse to gather without question but that excuse is gone now. Ten soldiers meeting in a townhouse with no war to speak of will draw questions eventually. A clever woman who dislikes soldiers and the war will soon be living beneath this roof and she requires considerably more caution than I expected.”

Seokjin's grin has now faded, "You think she'll work it out."

“I think,” Jungkook said, “that if we are careless, she will work out considerably more than any of us would like, and sooner than any of us expect. She speaks kindly of innocent lives, but her argument begins with her hatred of soldiers. A woman who believes men like us are a stain upon the kingdom is not someone I can assume will look kindly upon ten soldiers plotting to bring that kingdom down.”

“Then we shall simply stop meeting here,” Seokjin said, offering what he considered the most practical solution.

“No,” Jimin replied before Jungkook could answer, “finding another place secure enough for all of us would be difficult. We simply have to exercise more caution in this house than we have because this place will soon belong to her as well.”

“She will be lady of the house,” Jungkook said, “that means she will oversee it alongside Alfred. He is part of revolutionists, so I trust him to keep anything important from her, but every report, file, and piece of correspondence must be kept out of sight. Nothing is to be left in the study, sitting rooms, or even the bedrooms any of you use.”

Jimin gathered the correspondence in front of him into a single pile, “I will speak to Hana and Walter. If Walter is still using the townhouse for the underground press, it must stop before Lady Ashwell moves in.”

"See that it does," Jungkook said.

Seokjin looked at his captain, "Captain J, You seem remarkably unbothered for a man who was called an arrogant prick this morning."

"I am unbothered," Jungkook said, "being called an arrogant prick changes nothing about what must happen next. What concerns me is not what she thinks of me but what she might eventually see if we are not careful enough about what we allow her to see. Everything else that occurred this morning is frankly irrelevant."

"Captain, I believe you need her trusting you not questioning you. If she believes you are fond of her, she will not think to look too closely at what happens in this house," Seokjin said.

"She is not a woman who will be won over by fondness," Jungkook answered his senior officer, "she is too clever for it, and she would see through the flattery immediately. We ought to be smart when she is around is all."

Rain has finally begun to fall from the grey sky outside. Jungkook’s men, Jimin and Seokjin, left the study to find Alfred, the Jeon household’s butler, to begin preparing the mansion for everything that would need to change before Lady Ashwell arrived.

Jungkook reached for the Crown’s letter, folded it once, and placed it inside a drawer as the matter was already settled. 

Jungkook will be marrying you. 

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

After your meeting with Captain Jungkook, you and Daisy, your lady-in-waiting, spent the day at the public library. You did not return to the Ashwell townhouse until around four o'clock, with your arms full of books Daisy insisted you did not need but you purchased anyway. 

As you were walking towards your room, you heard your sister calling your name.

“_____!” Margot called the moment she caught sight of you passing the tea room, already standing up from her chair.

Your sister was dressed in a blue gown over long white skirts, her face lit up with excitement. Just one look at her told you she had heard some gossip and could not bear to keep it to herself a moment longer.

“There you are! Finally,” Margot said with a dramatic sigh, “I have been sitting here for half an hour waiting for you to come home and Mother refused to tell me a single detail until you arrived. Very mean of her, considering I am to be married in five days and surely deserve some entertainment before then.”

"Margot," you greeted as you set your books down on the side table. Behind you, Daisy quietly closed the door to the tea room, understanding that the Ashwells had matters to discuss that were not meant for her or the other servants’ ears.

"I did not know you were coming today," you said to Margot.

“I did not plan to,” Margot said, taking your hands and pulling you farther into the room.

Your mother sat nearby, while your father stood at the window with his hands behind his back.

“But Viscount Lee called on Lady Whitmore, who called on our aunt, who sent word to me within the hour. I could not possibly wait until my wedding to hear the truth from you directly!” Margot’s eyes brightened before continuing, “Tell me everything! I heard he called you darling in front of half the park.”

"He is infuriating," you said, sitting down on the blue chair, "that is the only word I have for him, Margot. He is infuriating, arrogant, and entirely too pleased with himself. Besides, he is a soldier and I have no intention of marrying one."

“You say that about every man,” Margot replied, entirely unbothered by your response. She sat back into her chair, “You said much the same of Lord Whitfield. And Baron Cole.”

"Neither of the men you mentioned were soldiers."

“No,” Margot agreed, “they were merely dull, which you said so yourself, if I recall. At least this one has given you something worth talking about! You have never been this agitated over a man!”

You opened your mouth to argue and explain precisely how Captain Jungkook ruined what should have been a perfectly executed plan to end the engagement. But before you had the chance to, your father cleared his throat by the window.

"____," your father said, "your mother and I have something to tell you, and I think it best we do before Margot continues on with whatever questions she has prepared."

You looked between your parents, "What is it?" you asked, you were nervous to hear what they were about to say. Your stomach had already begun to twist in knots. 

“We received another letter from the palace this afternoon,” your mother said.

“Another one? So soon?” you asked nervously. 

“The Queen has already heard about your meeting this morning,” your mother continued, visibly trying to choose her words carefully as she knew they would not be received gently, “it seems Viscount Lee’s words reached the Queen well before ours did, and Her Majesty was delighted.”

Your mother paused before continuing, “The Queen writes that she has rarely seen a match take so quickly that the affair has already become a sensation in certain circles. She has mentioned that she sees no reason for any further delay.”

“Further delay?” you repeated, clearly in shock from the news you heard.

“The wedding,” your father said, looking away from you, “it has been set for two weeks after Margot’s.”

The room fell silent.

"Two weeks," you repeated, "after Margot's wedding, which is held this weekend."

"Yes," your mother said quietly.

"So I am to be married," you slowly said, "in less than a month."

You sat still on the chair for what felt like five minutes, staring at your hands folded in your lap. Perhaps you thought that you ought to say something. You ought to argue as you did when you first read the letter. You ought to remind your father of every objection he raised himself of the bloodlines and the natural order of things. You ought to ask why none of that seemed to matter now.

But when you finally opened your mouth to fight for yourself, you found you did not have the energy for any of it.

You spent an entire morning fighting for your life and none of it mattered in the slightest, because the outcome, as your father has told you, has never truly been yours to decide.

"I understand," you quietly said instead.

Your mother looked visibly relieved, though she expected considerably more resistance and was not entirely certain what to make of its absence, "Darling," she said, "I know this is not what you wanted.."

"I understand, Mother," you said, interrupting her from finishing her sentence, "there is very little point in fighting a decision that was made before I was ever consulted on it. I do not intend to waste what remains of my energy fighting a battle I have already lost."

That was what you told your family.

Within your own mind, however, you were already searching for another way out. You have always believed there will always be a way out, like what one of your favourite authors wrote. 

There were three weeks between now and the wedding. Three weeks in which you must find some means of escaping the marriage. You did not yet know what or how you would be able to escape, only that you will find a way.

First, however, there was Margot’s wedding. And you would not miss your sister’s wedding for anything, not even your own freedom. Nor would you allow your troubles to cast even the smallest shadow over a day that belonged entirely to her.

For the next five days, you would smile, and endure the fittings and everything else as if your own future were not rapidly closing around you.

After that, you will escape.

“____,” Margot said softly, reaching for your hand, “I am sorry. I know how you feel about soldiers, but maybe he will not be so terrible. Captain Jungook is very handsome, at least. Believe me, there are worse faces to wake up next to.”

“Do not apologise, Margot,” you said, smiling at her, “I will not have you feeling guilty over any of this. This is still your week, and I do not want a single thought of my wedding taking up space that belongs to yours.”

“Are you certain?” she asked.

“I am.”

“There is one more thing,” your father said, making both you and Margot look up at once.

“Papa,” you said anxiously, “I do not believe I have the capacity for one more thing today.”

“Your mother and I have invited Captain Jungkook to dinner,” your father said, “this evening.”

You stared at your father.

“We thought it was best now that the wedding has been set, to take the opportunity to become properly acquainted with the man before he joins the family,” your father continued, “I confess, I should like to form my own opinion of him rather than relying entirely upon the opinions of others.”

"Tonight," you said in disbelief.

"Yes, honey. Tonight," your mother confirmed, "he sent his acceptance not long before you arrived home and he should be here by seven."

You closed your eyes for a moment and drew in a breath. You could not help wondering why the universe has decided that one day’s worth of Captain Jeon Jungkook was not enough of a punishment, "Of course he did," you said, mostly to yourself.

"You will want to change before he arrives," your mother added, already rising from her chair, "that dress has ink on its sleeves, darling, and I will not have Captain Jeon's first impression of this household to be one of a mess."

"Mother," you said, "he watched me pick my nose in a public park this morning. I do not believe a small ink stain is going to alter his opinion of this family.”

Margot let out a laugh, only to stifle it when your mother turned in her direction. 

"Regardless," your mother said, "you will change. And you will be civil at dinner, ____, whatever your opinions of the man. Whatever occurred this morning, he is very shortly to be your husband, and this house will conduct itself with proper hospitality.”

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Captain Jeon Jungkook arrived at precisely seven o'clock, not a minute before and not a minute after, which irritated you even more.

He changed out of his uniform and now wore a fitted black tailcoat with brass buttons, white trousers, and a dark cape draped over his shoulder. The clothes were formal without being too excessive, yet they still made him look commanding.

Jungkook stepped down from his car and greeted the doorman before climbing the steps to the Ashwells’ house. When the butler took his cape and hat at the door, you noticed that Jungkook thanked the man by name. You were certain he could not possibly have known it beforehand, which meant he likely asked in advance merely to impress your family.

What an irritating man, you thought to yourself. 

“Captain Jungkook,” your father said, approaching him with his hand already extended. You were surprised to hear none of the reluctance in your father’s voice that he expressed when speaking of the Duke of Jeon the previous day, “Welcome to our home.”

"Duke Ashwell," Jungkook said, taking his hand, "the pleasure is entirely mine. I confess I have been curious to see the house that produced four daughters of such reputation."

"Reputation?" your father repeated, he didn’t know whether to be wary or pleased of the word.

“Oh! all favourable, I assure you,” Jungkook smoothly replied, “Lady Medea’s wit is praised at nearly every dinner I have attended this season. Lady Ariel’s husband cannot spend five minutes at his club without finding some reason to brag about her. And Lady Margot, I am told, has arranged the wedding of the season, which I understand is to take place this very Saturday.”

Your father looked genuinely pleased.

You walked down the stairs then, having delayed as long as you could. Jungkook’s eyes found yours the moment you appeared. 

“Lady Ashwell,” Jungkook said, inclining his head, “we meet again, rather sooner than either of us anticipated this morning, I imagine.”

“Captain,” you replied, “I did not expect you to accept my parents’ invitation quite so readily.”

"I could hardly refuse," Jungkook said, "particularly not when your father was kind enough to extend it himself. It would have been rude not to.”

Your mother entered from the sitting hallway just then, wearing a gown she reserved for guests she intended to impress. She gave a small delighted laugh and you felt the evening beginning to slip beyond your control.

"Shall we?" your father said, gesturing towards the dining room.

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You hoped the dinner might provide some natural arguments. Your father did make his objections clear to Jungkook’s bloodline before. But within the first course, you were forced to abandon that hope.

"Tell me, Captain," your father said, once the soup had been served, "What was the northern war like? I understand your regiment was stationed there for the past two winters."

“It was harsher than I expected,” Jungkook said, “the cold was often worse than the war itself. A man can prepare himself to face an enemy, but the hunger and weeks without proper shelter are rather less honourable opponents. I am only grateful it ended when it did, Your Grace. Another winter there might have finished what the enemy could not.”

“A sensible answer,” your father said, giving his approval, “Parliament speaks endlessly of courage and victory, but very little of what it asks soldiers to endure between battles.”

“I could not agree more, Your Grace,” Jungkook said, “but I would ask that you not repeat that opinion to my officers. They are rather fond of the glory of victory than I am.”

Your father laughed at what Jungkook said. Across the table, you stirred your soup with more force than necessary, watching him warm up to a man he had called a stain upon the family bloodline.

“I understand your lands were formally restored to you only upon your promotion to captain,” your father said, “reclaiming an estate after so many years of neglect must not have been easy.”

“It was not, Sir.” Jungkook said, agreeing with your father, “the house was closed for nearly two decades by the time it was returned to me. I spent the first year simply learning what I had inherited, and the second year learning how much of it needed to be rebuilt.”

Jungkook paused before looking right at your father, “I understand, Your Grace, that you knew my father in the years before I was born. I have often wished I knew more of him than what little the records could tell me.”

His confession surprised you. Until then, you assumed his interest in the match was rooted in duty and something he wanted to get over with. It did not occur to you that he might have a more personal reason for accepting it so readily.

You found yourself wondering whether this was what had drawn him towards the marriage. Your father knew his father and by marrying into your family, Jungkook would gain more than a wife; he might also gain access to memories no record could preserve.

For the first time, his determination in the marriage seemed less like arrogance and more of him trying to learn about the life that had been taken from him.

The table briefly fell silent. You could see the complicated mixture of grief and guilt you have seen on your father’s face at the tea table two days earlier.

"He was a good friend to me in his time," your father said, "and I confess I have thought of him often these past few days, watching this arrangement unfold. I think he would be pleased to see his son so well established, Captain."

"That means a great deal to me, Your Grace," Jungkook answered.

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Your mother, for her part, required considerably less convincing than your father. 

She spent the second course asking Jungkook about his taste in music, discovering within a few short exchanges that he had a genuine appreciation for classical music, a fact that delighted your mother, as few gentlemen of her acquaintances could speak intelligently on the subject.

"You must join us for the classical sometime next season," your mother said.

“I would be honoured, Your Grace,” Jungkook replied, “though I fear His Grace may object to being so easily replaced.”

“He may still join us if he can remain awake through the performance. I am in desperate need of a companion who will not embarrass me by snoring,” your mother answered.

“I do not snore,” your father protested from the head of the table.

Your mother smiled, before saying, “Of course not, my dear. The entire row behind us merely imagined it.”

Jungkook lowered his gaze, clearly attempting to hide his amusement, while Margot made no such effort. You even had to press your lips together to keep from laughing.

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By the time the final course has been cleared, your father instructed the maid to bring out a bottle of brandy he reserved for his closest acquaintances. And as far as you knew, very few guests had ever been offered it.

“You will come to the wedding, of course,” Margot said as the evening finally began to draw to an end, “It will  happen this Saturday and I insist you come. You are practically family already, and I will not have my sister’s future husband absent from the celebration.”

“I would be honoured,” Jungkook replied, “provided your future husband does not object to a soldier attending in uniform. I am afraid I have little civilian attire suitable for such an occasion.”

“He will not object,” Margot assured him, “he served for two years before inheriting the barony. He will probably be delighted to have someone with whom he can discuss his previous life with.”

You sat through the remainder of the evening in stunned silence.

Your father, who had objected to Jungkook on the grounds of his bloodline. Your mother, who had spent years depressed of ever finding you a suitable match. Your sister who felt sorry for you now seemed genuinely convinced he might make you happy.

All of them had been thoroughly charmed by a shallow soldier who admitted he wanted to marry you because, in his words, you were at least pretty and he did not want to miss his chance. 

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When Jungkook finally stood up from his chair to take his leave, your father walked him personally to the door and the two of them were still deep in conversation about some matter of Parliament that your father seemed genuinely eager to continue at a later date.

“Lady Ashwell,” Jungkook said, standing before you while the butler fetched his cape. His voice dropped low enough that you knew the words were clearly meant for you alone, “I trust you found the evening as smooth as I did.”

“You are insufferable,” you replied quietly, not wanting to let your mother overhear.

“So I have been told,” Jungkook said with a smug expression across his face, “I find it considerably easier to win the favour of an entire household than that of the one member who has already decided to despise me.”

"I have very good reasons," you said, defending yourself.

“I do not doubt it,” Jungkook said, whispering in front of you, “though I confess, I expected your family to prove more difficult to impress.”

“They have mistaken good manners for good character,” you answered.

“An unfortunate habit,” he said, “I shall have to be careful not to behave too well in your presence. You might begin making the same mistake.”

“That is highly unlikely,” you said, rolling your eyes at him.

“Likewise,” Jungkook said, flashing you a smile so effortlessly charming that you hated yourself for noticing it at all.

Jungkook charmed your family without seeming to try, and yet not a single answer he gave them all evening told you anything real about the man himself. And you refused to be convinced.

You could not have explained it to your mother, or to Margot, or even to yourself in any reasonable way.

It was simply a feeling that whatever Captain Jungkook wanted from this house, it was not you.