The Duke's Unwanted Wife

“I don’t see what the issue is here. Resurrecting the original gods was always a part of my plan. Revivin Egerth would come last. I have to first revive Nataroth so she could bring them all to life.”    

“That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. All the original gods died with grudes. They have been dead for a long time and have become abstract concepts. If by chance, they were ever revived, the world would be in grave danger.”    

“I’m leaving it to the Queen to handle her people. It sounds like a terrible idea but when have I ever made a bad decision?”    

“I’m just worried about the repercussions. What if the world gets destroyed or worse, rewritten?”    

“If it gets rewritten, there is no way you would know,” Natalia smiled. Madaline was terrified because according to Natalia, it had happened two times already. Using her magic, she sent the sarcophagus back to where she kept it.    

“As it stands, all I need is a little more magic to be able to ascend.”    

“It is terrifying how much mana you have and how you have remained undiscovered by the entire world. I doubt you’d have an easy time ascending.”    

“Whether or not it is easy, as lon as I can ascend. I have to get ready for the second part of the auction. Do you want to come?”    

“I’d rather not be at event surrounded by several humans. Call me when you need me again,” Madaline said, disappearing. Natalia shrugged and changed her clothes, heading down to the carriage. She was there before any one else so she didn’t enter it. Seeing she was early, she went to the warehouse, opening the huge doors with magic. Most of the warehouse had already been cleaned out so there was nothing there more than structures. She snapped her fingers and a door appeared in the middle of the warehouse. She turned the doorknob and opened it, standing in front of the man that was suspended upside down by just levitation magic.    

Most of his fingers and toes were blue, his body covered with small cuts that were visibly healing. His eyes were blank and the tips of his ears appeared to have been cut off. Using magic, she turned his body the right way up.    

“The way magic moves in the body is so fascinating. I never thought I would be able to experiment this much on an elf. I’m sure you were astonished at how quickly I unconvered that amateur disguise you were using.”    

{Scum like you deserves to die!}    

“You must think I don’t speak fea language. How cute,” she mocked, leaning in.    

“I don’t know why you consider me scum when you don’t have even a tenth of my mana. I thought elves ranked themselves in terms of magical power.”    

{How dare an heretic like you speak the language of the gods?}    

“A heretic, huh? I guess it depends on the gods. But how can I be considered a heretic when I am the mother of all gods?”    

{BLASPHEMY!}    

“I am not here to argue legitimacy with you. I just need to know two things. One, who is your leader and two, why do you keep trying to kill me?”    

{I would rather die than betray my people?}    

“That is admirable. There is just one problem with that. In this mini dimension, it is impossible for you to die. If you didn’t understand that, let me eplain it this way. Even if you die, your soul cannot escape this dimension so it would be forced back into your body and you will keep going through that torture until you tell me what I want to know. Now, it’s up to you to decide if your soul is worth your honor. I’m curious to see what you’ll decide.”    

Natalia left the mini dimension and returned to where the carriages were waiting. Everyone was there already. She smiled at them and boarded the carriage heading to the location of the second part of the auction.    

“This is the part of the auction I was looking forward to. It’s like a treasure hunt. I hope the items there won’t disappoint me,” Alana excitedly said.    

“I wouldn’t bet on it. Even I don’t know the items that would be on display today. I am looking forward to it but I doubt you would find anything that would amaze you, your highness.”    

“Don’t ruin my excitement with your high standards, Natalia.”    

“As a princess, you should have high standards otherwise people would doubt your ability to rule as Queen, your highness.”    

“Stop sounding like my mother and stop saying I would become Queen.”    

“Do you still want to back out after we’ve come all this way, your highness? That would be very disappointing.”    

Even though she was grumbling, she never stared directly into Natalia’s eyes. It amazed Princess Temara. It was easy to see who ruled their friend group with relative ease. Adelie was always quiet and as the Saintess, she held a significant amount of influence but was still dwarved by Natalia.    

“Lady Natalia, may I ask a question?”    

“I will try my best to answer, your highness.”    

“Very well. It may seem juvenile in nature but I wanted to ask if your brother hated me. He has always avoided me but I thought I would give it a chance but I’m starting to think otherwise.”    

“If it’s in the case of my brother, I can’t exactly tell you what his problem is. I think it might be because his head is flawed but I can say he doesn’t hate you. He’s just too shy to face you.”    

“I can hardly imagine The Lord Sebastian Adamantine being that shy.”    

“You’d be surprised. Are you interested in marrying my brother, your highness?”    

“W-Well, if it’s not too much, I think we would make a great…”    

“Excellent. I’ll talk to your mother and we will send an official proposal. You have nothing to be worried about, your highness. He won’t be able to refuse if we set this wedding up. You’ll have him all to yourself.”    

“I-I see…” Princess Temara responded, confused. She had a feeling that she had entered a trap but she got what she wanted. She just couldn’t shake the feeling off. Natalia, on the other hand, was satisfied. Alana and Adelie, both experienced with Natalia’s manipulative ways, wished the Princess luck in their minds. They were usually harmless at first but if she gave you what you wanted, you would have to work very hard to pay it back.    

They reached the auction venue but instead of an alternate entrance, they walked through the front door without obstruction. They were instantly recognized by those at the events and whispers erupted the moment they walked in. Ignoring them, they waited for Natalia to decide where she wanted to go first. Even though she was the one who organized the event, even she had the privilege of being a guest.    

“I want to go…there,” she pointed her fan at the section the kingdom of Berinda had claimed for themselves. The ladies didn’t see what was outstanding about their items but followed Natalia’s lead anyway.    

“Welcome to our booth, honorable ambassador, your highness and your holiness. We hope our items are attractive and are looking to exchange with high quality mana stones.”    

“You want to exchange these items for high quality mana stones?” she asked, looking at the items on the table. To other people, they might be considered valuable. They were items that were hard to quantify with money like religious relics and extremely rare herbs only grown in Berinda. There were also ancient texts in fae language and instructional materials on magic circles.    

“There really isn’t anything that I want here and I happen to have a large deposit of high quality mana stones. What to do? Oh! Will you be willing to make another type of trade with me?”    

“I cannot authorize that kind of trade. Is it okay if I call our princess?”    

“Of course. I’ll wait,” she smiled. The attendant went out of the booth while the others waited there, trying to invite people to view their booth. The last attendant returned with a hooded woman and Natalia could immediately sense she was not normal. Not only did she possess the mana of angels, there was also a distinctively familiar mana in her, a mana she recognized from her last life. It belonged to Uriel.    

“You must be Princess Denitra. I am Ambassador Natalia Adamantine. It’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness.”    

“My attendant informed me that you wanted to make another trade. Is this perhaps as regards to the item we purchased at the auction?”    

“Oh it seems like your highness has deciphered my intent. If it is okay with you, we can discuss this in private. I wish to trade more than just high quality mana stones. I still have some supreme quality mana stones that have world order flowing with them.”    

“...fine. Follow me,” the princess said, going into the booth. Natalia turned to the ladies and told them to leave without her. Ignoring their protests, she followed Princess Denitra.