Tyrion found himself surrounded by young women who just so happened to be in the palace for no event.
The court set up this scheme to get his attention by bringing their daughters or other young ladies with family ties to him.
Again, Tyrion viewed them as a matching doll set. They were all lovely women, and most might have a good heart, but he had already voiced that he would pick his future queen. He didn’t want women forced toward him.
"Send them off to the queen’s garden," Tyrion ordered a guard. He stuck by his word that he would not waste these young women’s time since he didn’t want any of them.
The order was followed by disappointed chatter and requests for the prince to stay near, but Tyrion ignored them, continuing on his way.
He didn’t get far since his mother was watching from close by.
"You could have stayed a little longer to entertain them," said Hazel Castro, the queen.
"Mother, when father declared the queen selection was over, I thought it meant I wouldn’t be pestered . I will pick my bride. I don’t need my mother, father, or the court to do it," said Tyrion.
"We are letting you pick-"
"You are placing women before me that I do not care for. I am sorry for speaking over you," Tyrion apologised.
Hazel glanced at the young woman walking away. "It wasn’t my doing. I only thought you could have done a little small talk before sending them away. You mustn’t let them get a bad impression of the crown prince."
Hazel continued to say, "I do agree they shouldn’t surprise you with young ladies. I’m sure you are worried about what Penelope would think. I am your mother. I know things, and the duchess knows things. We had a little deal behind our husbands’ backs that you two would wed."
"Do not speak of this to your husband since he will bother the duke and place me in a terrible position. He gets excited, which I understand, but he misses how he ruins it for me. Edgar doesn’t care that I am the son of his friend," said Tyrion.
"Edgar has never cared about many things. Luckily, you grew up around him, and what Edgar cares for is his daughter’s happiness. If Penelope chooses to be with you, Edgar would allow it. He would be angry that she is in the palace, but Edgar is always angry," said Hazle.
Tyrion looked over his mother at the duke, his father, and Elijah walking together.
"Excuse me," Tyrion said, leaving his mother’s side to join the group.
"There he is," Tobias said, happy to see Tyrion. "I thought you would be busy with the young women in the palace."
If possible, Tyrion wished he could strangle his father for bringing this up before Duke Collins. He could already feel Edgar staring a hole through his face, which meant he had learned of what happened last night.
"I was not busy with anyone. Duke Collins. Elijah," Tyrion greeted the guests.
"Crown prince," Edgar replied, walking by Tyrion to get to the ballroom.
Elijah patted Tyrion’s back with a smile. "Well done. I think he almost thought of smiling just now."
Tyrion glared at Elijah. "Careful. When I am king, I might send you to the border."
Elijah didn’t mind. "I have always enjoyed my time with the Callahans. Send me there, and not only will my father dislike you, but my mother will too."
Elijah didn’t like it, but he knew there was some hope for Tyrion as long as Alessandra liked him. His mother was the one person who held his father back.
"The duchess will always adore me. Why are you in the palace?" Tyrion asked.
"Someone dressed up as my mother died at the ball last night. How could you not think I would come? Are your feelings for my sister making you foolish? You should stop trying to court her," Elijah suggested.
"What will you do if I don’t stop?" Tyrion inquired.
"I don’t have to do anything. My father is the best at using guns, and my sister follows his lead. I hate to admit that she is better than I am with a gun. I will leave it to her to shoot you if you bother her," Elijah replied.
Tyrion wasn’t concerned about Penelope shooting him. Based on her reaction last night, he had a chance. It would only take some time to win her over.
"Have you found out anything yet?" Edgar asked, trying to drown out the talk about his daughter. "Like who the woman came with or what family she came from?"
"No," Tobias said, disappointed he had nothing to share. "I spoke with the town guards, and no one has reported a missing relative. No one from the ball came forward to speak of losing sight of someone they came with."
"Invitations needed to be shown at the door, so she came with someone who received one. I have sent my guards out to question everyone who attended. I am trying," Tobias said.
Still, Tobias knew his best wouldn’t be enough for Edgar since it concerned Alessandra, and Tobias couldn’t be upset. He would be uneasy if this concerned Hazel and no one had any answers.
"Has anyone troubled you recently?" Tobias asked as softly as he could so their sons wouldn’t hear.
"Besides the court and you? No," Edgar replied.
Edgar and his family had not long ago returned from their other home out of town, which was more peaceful than Lockwood. Trouble was stirring up now that they were settling in.
"I am going to find who she came with. We are lucky that a guard remembered seeing her because of the dress. She came with a man, but from the description alone, it is hard to tell who he is," said Tobias.
Tobias didn’t like how this was sounding since it meant someone purposely killed this woman at the ball and abandoned her. It was even worse the woman was dressed up as Alessandra, which would send Edgar on a hunt.
Tobias tried to lighten the mood by turning to their sons. "You have Elijah shadowing you just as I am doing with the crown prince. How is that going for you, Elijah?"
"Good so far, but it would be even better if my father listed a few things in my name already," Elijah answered with his father’s carriage still in mind. "I might marry soon, so it would be good to have my home sorted out."
"He already has a home in his name," Edgar said.
"That means he will be moving out of the estate soon. I remember a time you could not be away from Alessandra. You would cry, and then when you got around your father, you would pout. Alfred used to," Tobias stopped as the late butler’s name might upset Edgar.
"I would like to know why the crown prince was casually riding around the town last night," Edgar said, still invested in what Penelope had done.
"I do it quite often. It was by some luck that I was there to help Penelope," Tyrion replied.
Edgar stopped to face Tyrion. "You have a habit of finding your way to my daughter’s side."
"I do and I will not stop, no matter how much it displeases you. I am not afraid of you, Duke Collins," said Tyrion.