Chapter 236: The Announcement

Afternoon sun filtered through the windows of the Hartwell estate’s sitting room, casting an intricate pattern of light and shadow across the polished wooden floor.Alex sat comfortably in one of the plush chairs near the window, with a cup of fragrant tea cooling on the small table beside him and a book open on his lap.

The book detailed common anecdotes from across the state, nothing profound but pleasant enough reading material.

A quiet afternoon with a good book, decent tea, and blessed silence.

Peace. Simple, uncomplicated peace.

Alex should have known that it would never last long.

The first sign of trouble was the sound of rapid footsteps in the hallway.

Alex’s eyes came off his book just as the sitting room door flew open with enough force that it banged against the wall.

Nathan literally stumbled through the doorway.

"Brother Alex...!" Nathan gasped, his words coming out between heaving breaths. "Brother Alex!"

He stopped, bending over with his hands on his knees, clearly having sprinted the entire way from wherever he’d been.

Alex closed his book with a resigned sigh, carefully marking his place before setting it aside.

So much for a peaceful afternoon.

"Nathan," Alex said calmly, taking a sip of his tea, "take a breath first before you pass out from lack of oxygen."

Nathan had grown accustomed to Alex’s strange ways of phrase by now, so he didn’t pay any mind to it and waited for the air to fill his lungs before continuing.

"No, Brother Alex, you don’t understand! This is...this is huge! The whole city is talking about it! I ran all the way from the market square because I knew you’d want to know immediately!"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "The whole city is talking about it? What is it exactly? Has someone else stumbled out of a brothel again? Because honestly, after Henrik’s performance, I don’t think anyone could top that scandal for at least a month or two."

"No, no, it’s not that!" Nathan waved his hand frantically. Though, thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely unrelated either.

"It’s about Miss Evelyn! The McCoy family! Lord Edmund has announced..." He stopped, apparently deciding that no words could convey what he wanted to tell him and instead thrust a rolled parchment toward Alex with both hands.

"Here! Just read this! It is the official announcement, posted in the market square this morning!"

Curious, Alex took the parchment.

He unrolled it carefully, his eyes scanning the elegant calligraphy and the seal that marked it as an official McCoy family document.

----

By Order of Lord Edmund McCoy, Patriarch of the House McCoy:

Let be it known throughout Ironhold and the surrounding territories, that the engagement agreement between the House of Henrik and the House of McCoy has been formally annulled, effective immediately, due to conduct unbecoming of the proposed union.

-----

Alex’s lips twitched slightly. That was putting it mildly. "Conduct unbecoming" was a remarkably diplomatic way to describe "stumbling out of a brothel drunk in broad daylight."

He continued reading.

-----

Moreover, due to the great interest expressed by so many families with regards to the courtship of Miss Evelyn McCoy, Lord Edmund McCoy hereby announces the establishment of a Suitor’s Challenge.

This challenge shall consist of a series of tests that shall assess the suitability of candidates in more than one domain of capability and character.

Let it be known that all persons of proper standing and age may compete. The competition shall begin two weeks hence, on the fifteenth day of the second month.

Further details as to the nature of the various tests shall be given out on the day when it will be held.

By the hand of Lord Edmund McCoy

----

Alex read through the announcement twice, his expression carefully neutral.

Finally, he lowered the parchment and looked up at Nathan, who was watching him with an expression that suggested he was about to explode if Alex didn’t say something immediately.

"Well," said Alex equably, "that’s certainly something that I would like to know."

"Just Something

?!" Nathan’s voice cracked on the word. "Brother Alex, this is huge problem! A Suitor’s Challenge for Miss Evelyn’s hand! Do you understand what this means?"

"I understand that Lord Edmund has found himself in a rather complicated political situation," Alex replied, setting the announcement down on the table beside his now-forgotten tea. "And that he’s solved it in a remarkably clever way, actually."

Nathan blinked. "What do you mean?"

Alex leaned back in his chair, his fingers moving showing his thoughtfulness.

"Put yourself in Lord Edmund’s shoes. He just publicly annulled the engagement with the Henrik family... which, while completely justified given Henrik’s behavior, but still leaves this huge gaping political hole."

"A hole? What hole?" Nathan’s brow furled in confusion.

"Miss Evelyn is the only daughter of one of the three great families of Ironhold," Alex explained patiently.

"She’s clever, talented, beautiful, and she stands to inherit a good part of the McCoy family’s fortune and business holdings. Now that the Henrik engagement fell through, she’s the most eligible match in the entire city."

Nathan’s eyes widened as understanding began to dawn. "Oh."

"I’d be willing to bet that within hours of the annulment announcement, Lord Edmund was flooded with marriage proposals," Alex continued. "Every merchant family, every minor noble house, every ambitious family with a son of appropriate age suddenly sees this as an opportunity."

"That sounds like a nightmare," Nathan muttered.

"For Lord Edmund? Of course," he agreed. "Because he can’t simply refuse them all... most of that would alienate half the influential families in the city and squander valuable business connections. But he also cannot accept one proposal without looking very closely at what political consequences arise from that and inevitably offending everyone whose proposals he has rejected."

Nathan’s face altered from puzzlement to growing admiration. "So instead, he calls a public competition? A Suitor’s Challenge where everybody gets an equal chance by merit, not because of politics.

"Exactly," Alex said. "It’s actually quite brilliant. This way, no one can say they weren’t given a chance. It’s an open selection process, capability based rather than political, and Lord Edmund keeps complete control over what tests will be given to ensure that only someone he considers truly worthy will pass."

Nathan nodded slowly, processing this. Then his expression shifted again, this time to something closer to alarm.

"Brother Alex. you realize what this means for you, don’t you?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What it means for me? I’m not sure I follow your logic, Nathan."

"Come on, Brother Alex!" exclaimed Nathan. "Everybody in Ironhold knows you and Miss Evelyn have been spending time together...outings to gardens, taking long conversations...how can you be so unbothered?"

"Nathan—" Alex tried to interrupt, but Nathan was on a roll now.

"And the way you look at her sometimes when you think no one’s watching! Don’t think I haven’t seen it! My sister Lucy has definitely seen it, and she keeps giving me those looks as if I should do something about it!"

"Nathan, I think you’re reading far too much into—"

"Besides, you’re probably the most eligible bachelor in Ironhold at the moment!" Nathan was saying, counting on his fingers. "You’d solved the three-year drought, brought rain to the city.... everybody treats you as if you were some sort of apostle! You even have the favour of the Magistrate!"

He leaned forward, his eyes wide with intensity. "Brother Alex, if there’s a Suitor’s Challenge going on, you have to definitely take part in it. You have to."

Alex opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again, suddenly unsure of what exactly to say.

The truth was, he hadn’t really thought about his relationship with Miss Evelyn in those terms.

Yes, he enjoyed their conversations.

Yes, she was remarkably smart, and their talk about astronomy had really been interesting.

Yes, beautiful and kind, and....

Oh.

Oh no.

Who am I trying to fool? I know myself.

Alex rubbed his temples, feeling the peaceful afternoon slipping further and further away from him with each passing moment.

"Nathan, even if—and I’m not saying this is the case—but even if I did have... feelings... for Miss Evelyn, that doesn’t mean I should participate in this challenge."

"Why not?" Nathan insisted.

"Because..!"

How can I say that I have a girlfriend back in my old world and one here in this world, and that one happens to be even your sister?

"Because you’re scared?" Nathan suggested when Alex didn’t continue.

Alex turned speechless.

Afraid? No, that wasn’t it. Not entirely.

The challenge itself didn’t faze him.

Whatever tests Lord Edmund devised, Alex was confident that he could pass them with a mixture of modern knowledge, strategic thinking, and if necessary; a few carefully deployed pieces of technology from the modern world.

But the consequences of participation...

If he entered the challenge, he was making a public declaration of his intentions toward Miss Evelyn.

There would be no ambiguity, no pretending it was just friendly interest or intellectual curiosity. Everyone in Ironhold would know he was competing for her hand in marriage.

Marriage

The word sat heavy in his brain.