The Duke's Unwanted Wife

"I'm…sorry…"    

"Adelie! Don't be so stubborn and just agree! Why must you make yourself suffer so?? Your soul will dissipate if you continue to disagree!"    

She smiled, coughing. Even though it was her soul, it was riddled with holes and continuously leaking mana. Her hands were tied up to red pillars with golden snakes sneaking around them and her legs hung limply, most of it gone. He stood in front of her with a golden whip, the handle bearing a small golden snake.    

He looked like any other handsome man with a sharp nose and cheekbones, his pupils resembling that of a serpent. His hair and beard were long and white, opposing his youthful looking face. He wore a long red robe with golden snakes embroidered into it.    

"My…soul…cannot…dissipate."    

"But you cannot reincarnate properly if you die! All you have to do is say yes and I promise to put you back to your perfect form. Agree to absorb your sister's mana to ascend! It's so easy for you to do."    

She laughed again, throwing her head back. A vigorous cough racked through her body and a hole appeared on one side of her face.    

"You…do not know…what she…is capable of. She…is not…an easy…enemy. I...refuse to make…her my enemy."    

"She is but a mortal! How can a mere mortal oppose a god?!"    

"Mortal? She is anything but one."    

They got back into the palace safely without any incident. Natalia quickly changed her outfit and prepared for dinner with the royal family. The one sent to escort her was…    

"Pardon me, Lady Ambassador, are you already prepared for dinner?"    

"Crown Prince Arken, you came. Yes, I am prepared. I'll be with you in a moment," she responded from her room. She turned to her servants, looking at the window and at them. They nodded and dispersed. She opened the door and turned to smile at him. He offered his hand and she took it, walking to the dining hall with her.    

"You always manage to pull off the most magnificent outfits. My mother is impressed by them."    

"I am pleased to hear that. The Merchant Association partnered with La Borisque boutique toale these beautiful dresses and deliver them to everywhere our association is. This is just a prime example of what one can achieve if they partner with us."    

Because of her efforts, there wasn't a single place in the continent or the next that didn't have a Merchant Association branch. They made it so that they benefited the common people and racked in an enormous profit each year that the secret vault ranked the highest in the list of places most desirable to rob.    

"You like to rope people in with that silver tongue of yours, for example, Captain Morgan. He is quite the character. We are curious if he will make the best partner for you."    

"In my home, things like choosing partners are left completely up to my parents. Their ways of testing are quite unique, able to expose the secrets of the candidate's heart. I trust my mother to choose the most sincere partner for me."    

"But how does that work? I heard your mother separated from your father a long time ago. Surely you can't trust her to make an infallible decision on behalf of your future?"    

"As children, we are bound to listen to our parents, even though they ask the most foolish things of us. For example, sharing the genes of our family…"    

His eyes widened and he stopped to look at her. She smiled, taking her hand out of his.    

"My brother and I have a pure relationship. I'm glad he hasn't met someone like you," she said, walking ahead of him. She reached the dining hall before him, settling into her seat.    

"Lady Ambassador, my son was asked to escort you. Where is he?"    

"He's back in the hall. He complained of some pain in his pelvis joint and I suggested he rest. The cultures of our kingdoms are so different so I don't know what he decided to do."    

The king and Queen froze like their son. Natalia gave them a nod and picked up her cutlery. Arken joined them before they began dinner and it was silent throughout. After dinner, she went into the garden to take a walk.    

“Handle the annoyances. I don’t want to be disturbed,” she said to her maids. She walked through the garden until she found a spot that was furthest away from the palace. She sighed and sat on the grass, leaning against a tree.    

She didn’t like being alone. She preferred it didn’t mean she liked it. Being alone for two lifetimes, doing everything by herself made her exhausted. A lot had changed and the people she would’ve ordinarily wished to kill on sight had become her dearest friends and family. It was hard to adjust at first but her fake smiles eventually became real ones.    

“My lady, we found it.”    

She snapped back to reality and looked at her servants surrounding her. She stood up and walked until she reached a pavilion bordering a lake.    

“Minister Mori,” she greeted the man with his back turned to them. He turned around and gave a short bow.    

“Lady Ambassador.”    

“I hope there is a good reason you have called me here.”    

“I came here with questions I hope the Lady Ambassador can answer for me.”    

“In my kingdom, this classifies as an escapade, especially when a man and a woman meet in a secluded area. There has been many unsavory rumors with me and Captain Morgan at the center of it. I don’t want to start another round of rumors with you. If this is not important, then…”    

“That is actually one of the things I want to ask about. If you’re so worried about the rumors, why do you keep sneaking out with Captain Morgan?”    

“So he can give me a tour of the city whilst undercover. It’s called market research and I trust him to protect me inside the kingdom.”    

“You could’ve just asked the king…”    

“He would’ve made a fanfare about it or asked the crown prince to accompany me. It would render my market research unfruitful.”    

With her answers, he had no other words to refute her. Her defence was clear and they couldn’t use anything to pin them down.    

“You know a lot about our kingdom and can read, write and communicate in our language. That makes me most curious because as far as I know, our language is not taught outside of this kingdom.”    

“I have a talent for these things. Vernacular fae language isn’t hard to learn once you know fae language.”    

“You know fae language?!”    

{What do you think?}    

Minister Mori felt a chill go down his spine. The already arduous mountain felt much harder to climb. Yet, he wasn’t willing to give up.    

“Many people who come to our kingdom are always affected by our anti-magic border and don’t stay here for more than a few days. Not only do you not show any signs of weakness, you are conducting yourself very well.”    

“Minister Mori, I feel like you’re deliberately asking me stupid questions. Even if a lion is cornered by hyenas, will it back down and beg for mercy?”    

The man did not reply. She smiled and walked past him, staring at the lake.    

“There are many mystical things in this world and I just happen to be one of them. I have always asked myself the question, ‘what am I?’, whenever I surpass my own imagination. There is a bank of knowledge locked up in my head and a wealth of resources at my fingertips. It's so easy to get drunk on power and gain the urge to…rule the world.”    

His head snapped to her, his eyes widening. She opened her palm and water from the lake floated to her palm, forming a circling halo.    

“This is the wish of anyone who want to become a god. Slowly, but surely, gain the power and resources needed to rule the world. This conviction and wealth of both magic and world order will open the doors to ascension. But can a mortal so easily become a god? No, they need something special. Something more. They need strong will. They conquer tribulations and finally, the gates of the heavens open and they become an entity that rules over the world.”    

“Is that…your goal?”    

She smiled, releasing the halo of water. It floated back to the lake, now hanging upside down above where it used to be. When he looked down, he found that they were surrounded by a chasm so deep, light couldn’t penetrate.    

“That is not my goal. My goal is to make things right, take us all to the beginning, where it all started. My goal is much more complicated than just ascending. It is more than just saving the world. And yes, there are many that will misunderstand it or brand me a villain. The people I love might even hate me. Yet, I don’t mind all that. I…will do whatever it takes to restore balance.”    

“I will not let you do that!” A righteous voice declared. With a wave of her hand, the distortion was repaired and the lake was restored to its natural state. Princess Denitra floated down and stood on the railing of the pavilion.    

“I will do whatever it takes to stop you from destroying the world, agent of darkness!”