The Duke's Unwanted Wife

“I need a quiet room and no disturbance for the next three hours”.    

Whenever Natalia didn’t give a definite answer, it was a sign that she didn’t want to be pressed. They were quite surprised to see her come in with a body floating right behind her. They couldn’t recognize the person which made them wonder who he was and where he came from if he was even a he.    

Natalia was unable to use her healing powers properly because of how little mana she had left so she summoned Madaline.    

{Werecreatures are rarely this fatally injured. Most of them were wiped out but this one is particularly resilient}    

“Can you heal him?”    

{I need a medium. Do you still have the medicine I used to heal you?}    

“Yes. Here it is”    

Natalia stood aside and watched Madaline heal Marvis. It was a complex possess she couldn’t interfere with but it was interesting to watch. It was different from the other types she had seen and she could feel it especially now that she was rapidly losing her natural mana.    

Three hours went by and the dying man was breathing steadily on the bed. Madaline didn’t look like she broke a sweat even though she had used up a lot of mana to heal the dying man. After a second treatment, he would be back to normal. Such a statement intruiged Natalia.    

“Is there a way I can cultivate my own magic? Now that my body has experienced death, I am slowly losing the magic that came with the blessing of Ducroft. The enchantment magic my body spent years to receive is gone and I am not excited to start that process again”.    

{Cultivating magic is extremely difficult. Without the existence of a medium, it requires talent, luck and a lot of hard work. Are you willing to go through that? I can assure you, it would be three times worse than the process you went through as a child}    

“Whatever it takes. I’m sure you would help me,” she smiled.    

{Your cheekiness is always surprising whenever I see it}    

Natalia finally came out of the room, looking a little pale. It was her depleting mana she used to summon Madaline afte all so it had a visible effect on her.    

“We have a problem, my lady. Some imperial knights came around looking for a man with that exact description. They say he’s an escaped, dangerous criminal that must be caught immediately. We managed to send them away but they would definitely be suspicous. I think you should abandon that man, your grace,” Countess Quartz said, staring at the room she just came out of.    

“He’ll be out by the day after tomorrow so there is no need to worry. Any word about the carriage I am to board?”    

“It would be available that day as well”.    

“Excellent. Now, it is late and we need to rest. I will handle the details tomorrow. Goodnight now,” Natalia waved, entering the room once more. The two looked at each other and sighed. The lady was definitely up to something mischievous again.    

“Your majesty, the last signature had been appended on the treaty. All the nobles have extended their support. Your coronation would happen on the morrow. I congratulate you in advance, your majesty,” Corren bowed, passing the document to Fredrich. After seizing the throne by force, he was surprised there wasn’t a need to force the nobles into submission. While it was mostly due to the influence of the Adamantine Family, the Marquis hadn’t said anything to contest his coronation. In fact, it was like nobody wanted to mention the fact that his wife died the day he took over.    

“Any word from the young lord Adamantine?”    

“He said he is planning his wedding to the princess and is thinking of settling in the kingdom of Polivia,” Corren responded, dropping the cup of tea he prepared for Fredrich.    

“So, he rejected my offer to be my financial minister?”    

“Yes. I heard he would be forfeiting his citizenship to this kingdom to earn a title in the Kingdom of Polivia”.    

“Do you think he has heard about the death of his siter?”    

“Undoubtedly. But it is illogical for him to give up his title as a Marquis heir to gain a title in a kingdom as poor as Polivia”.    

“We can talk to him again when he returns for his sister’s burial. How are the plans for the burial progressing?”    

“About that, your majesty, we can’t find……her body”.    

“What do you mean by that, Corren? It’s a dead body. How can you not find a body that can’t even move?”    

“When we went to retrieve her body to preserve it till the burial, we only found the body of the former Queen in the room. The bed was empty and it looked like someone had come in to take her body. I sent out guards in secret to search for her but none have found her yet”.    

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HASN’T BEEN FOUND YET? CALL THE ROYAL GUARDS! HER BODY MUST BE FOUND ELSE HEADS WOULD ROLL!”    

“Your majesty, if you search openly, it would cause another type of problem. You’re already going to cause chaos by trying to bring the third princess to be your Queen. We will continue the search the way we have before. Please just relax and focus on your coronation”.    

“Has Alana agreed to come back to the Capital?”    

“Yes. Her highness is on her way as we speak. It would be a bit difficult to get married to her during your coronation but if you can wait a few months, then you would be able to get what you want”.    

Everything was going exactly as he wanted. He was finally getting what he wanted. But, why? Why was there a chasm that was growing wider in his heart not even the thought of Alana could fill?    

When morning came, a dismayed Marvis awoke to find his chest wrapped in bandages and his wounds mostly healed. More surprising, the woman he saved who disappeared in thin air was sleeping on a chair beside his bed, clearly uncomfortable.    

His master tried to kill him and had dome something imaginable to his people. Again, in his life, he had fallen into a pit of despair, one of his own doing.