"Everyone says he's the one who held the southern corridor. They're all fighting over him!"
"Why doesn't my sister want the great hero?"
I didn't know how to explain it to her.
Probably because when a great hero decides to betray you, he does it more ruthlessly than anyone else.
He doesn't just crush your heart.
And it would cost my entire family their lives.
A marriage that ended in execution and ruin was one I could not afford.
And no longer wanted.
I hadn't even made it back to the Corsetti house yet.
The news of my broken engagement with Dominic Valenti had already swept through Aurelia.
The visitors lined up outside the Corsetti residence, waiting to pay their respects to my father, were the first to catch the scent of it. One by one, they picked up their gifts and left.
"Does the eldest Corsetti girl still think her family is what it used to be? Marrying into the Valenti family was already above her station!"
"I only wanted to get close to Dominic Valenti through the Corsettis. Otherwise, who'd bother warming up to a house this cold?"
"Who does Serafina Corsetti think she is? All she has is a reputation as the sharpest woman in the old borough. Other women would kill to stand beside Dominic Valenti, and she's been sitting on that engagement for years. Now she breaks it off in front of everyone? Who is she trying to impress?"
"Dominic Valenti earned his name young. A seat on the Commission is right around the corner. The Corsettis are going to regret this until their guts turn green."
...
I listened to all of it. My heart was still as dead water.
Giulietta's little face flushed scarlet with rage. "They look down on you, Sister. They look down on our whole family..."
I patted her head. "Giulietta, what other people think doesn't matter. What matters is that our family stays together, safe and sound."
Giulietta sniffled.
Then her eyes lit up.
"Father!"
She threw herself into our father's arms the moment he stepped through the gate, still wearing the dark suit he kept for sit-downs at the social club.
The complaints poured out of her in a torrent: everything that happened outside the compound with Dominic, every snide remark from every fair-weather visitor who'd turned tail and left.
I clutched the edge of my sleeve, unable to meet my father's eyes.
Not until I heard him ask, "Why don't you want to marry him?"
His tone was gentle. He didn't seem angry.