Theodore

Theodore Beaumont had expected his visit to last no more than an hour. As the newly appointed Viscount of Ashmere, he had been sent by his elder brother, the Duke of Beaumont, to finalize land agreements with one of the Crown's newest duchies. It was little more than paperwork—a tedious exchange of boundaries, taxes, and tenant rights after the recent redistribution of imperial lands. The estate itself was unfamiliar. Once a modest county, it had been elevated to a duchy by imperial decree after its former duchess passed away without an heir. The title had unexpectedly fallen to the younger sister of the new Empress. Most of the nobility considered it little more than political favoritism.