Chap­ter 10 — A Great Chance for a Vil­lain draws Rudolf Rassendyll deep­er into the com­pli­cat­ed entan­gle­ment of duty, decep­tion, and emo­tion­al sac­ri­fice. Chap­ter 10 — A Great Chance for a Vil­lain opens with Sapt pre­sent­ing Rassendyll a con­fi­den­tial police report that con­firms Duke Michael’s sus­pect­ed involve­ment in the King’s dis­ap­pear­ance. It also out­lines the close cir­cle of allies sup­port­ing Michael, includ­ing the enig­mat­ic Madame de Mauban. More impor­tant­ly, the report reveals grow­ing unease among the Ruri­tan­ian pub­lic over the King’s seem­ing neglect of Princess Flavia, whose affec­tion for the man she believes to be her betrothed monarch has only grown stronger. For Rassendyll, this intel­li­gence report does more than out­line polit­i­cal risks—it casts a sharp light on the per­son­al cost of the cha­rade he’s uphold­ing, espe­cial­ly as it con­cerns Flavia’s trust and the nation’s sta­bil­i­ty.

Fol­low­ing this sober­ing brief­ing, Rassendyll meets with Sapt and Fritz to dis­cuss a con­tro­ver­sial but nec­es­sary move—he must pub­licly con­tin­ue woo­ing Princess Flavia. Though this deci­sion is dri­ven by polit­i­cal neces­si­ty, it weighs heav­i­ly on Rassendyll’s con­science. His feel­ings for Flavia have deep­ened, yet he remains acute­ly aware that any roman­tic ges­tures he makes are root­ed in a lie. This moral ten­sion builds fur­ther when Rassendyll attends a grand ball, where his pub­lic courtship of Flavia must appear con­vinc­ing, even cel­e­bra­to­ry. Amid the glow of chan­de­liers and whis­pers of nobil­i­ty, he plays his role with pre­ci­sion. Flavia, unaware of the truth, responds with sin­cere affec­tion, mak­ing the illu­sion hard­er for him to bear. The grow­ing affec­tion between them is both heart­warm­ing and trag­ic, espe­cial­ly as the crowd inter­prets their close­ness as a hope­ful sign of uni­ty and peace for the king­dom.

Their qui­et, emo­tion­al­ly charged exchange at the ball is soon cut short by the abrupt appear­ance of Sapt. His inter­rup­tion reminds both Rassendyll and the read­er that the stakes tran­scend per­son­al hap­pi­ness. Behind the romance lies a mis­sion fraught with danger—a loom­ing con­fronta­tion with Duke Michael, who still holds the real King hostage. Rassendyll’s moment of close­ness with Flavia is stripped away by the return of strat­e­gy and duty. Sapt’s appear­ance isn’t sim­ply a nar­ra­tive device; it reflects the unre­lent­ing pres­sure that fol­lows Rassendyll at every turn. He can­not afford to for­get that every affec­tion­ate glance or whis­pered promise to Flavia deep­ens the moral abyss he’s slid­ing into. He is not a free man pur­su­ing love; he is a pre­tender walk­ing a nar­row line between hero­ism and betray­al.

Lat­er that night, soli­tude grants Rassendyll a moment to reflect. The chap­ter ends with him alone, con­tem­plat­ing the ram­i­fi­ca­tions of his choic­es. His mind drifts not just to the tac­ti­cal risks but to the emo­tion­al after­math of what he is doing to a woman he tru­ly admires. He real­izes that while he may be defend­ing a king­dom, he is also inad­ver­tent­ly break­ing the heart of an inno­cent. That real­iza­tion cuts deep­er than any threat Duke Michael could pose. The “great chance for a vil­lain” men­tioned in the title is not just Duke Michael’s plot—it could eas­i­ly apply to Rassendyll him­self, should he con­tin­ue to exploit Flavia’s feel­ings. This dual mean­ing gives the chap­ter its emo­tion­al weight. Rassendyll is no vil­lain, yet the longer he main­tains the ruse, the more he risks becom­ing one in the eyes of those who love and trust him.

This chap­ter pow­er­ful­ly jux­ta­pos­es themes of roman­tic ide­al­ism with the grim demands of polit­i­cal sur­vival. The mas­quer­ade Rassendyll per­forms is no longer just a mat­ter of nation­al emergency—it is now deeply per­son­al, fraught with emo­tion­al con­se­quences. As duty and desire col­lide, the lines between right and wrong blur, remind­ing read­ers that even noble acts can come with dev­as­tat­ing costs. Rassendyll’s inter­nal strug­gle sets the stage for future chap­ters, where hon­or, love, and sac­ri­fice will clash more force­ful­ly than ever before.