The Duke's Unwanted Wife

"I had a hunch but Madaline confirmed it. Do you even know what a Divine Bird is?"    

"You better explain it to me properly."    

"Fine. A Divine Bird is one of the direct descendants of the goddess Nataroth and as such, they can control time and space. This is obvious in the way they cannot age or die. At some point in history, the Divine Birds became the Werephoenix and started to live like mortals. If the Divine Birds were ever killed, just like Destiny, time and space will be fixed in place. If this happens, then world order will be rewritten easily and magic may cease to exist completely."    

"But you said they cannot die."    

"They are not supposed to. However the original god of Nature Egerth can kill things that are supposed to be immortal since being immortal is innately against Nature."    

"Will it really be a problem if Magic ceases to exist? Polivia doesn't have a lot of magic and we are doing fine."    

"You're wrong. Polivia's economy almost completely depends on Mythril and Mythril cannot exist without magic. But if world order is completely rewritten then Polivia might not even exist."    

"You're confusing me again."    

"Well, basically, because Polivia doesn't have a lot of magic, it developed with your so-called machines. Engineering is a profession that only exists in Polivia. Your heavy dependence on Mythril made this possible. Imagine if the world didn't have magic to depend on and Mythril is as overly abundant in Polivia? This kingdom would've been invaded and annexed with Ducroft or the Empire a long time ago. The people of Polivia would essentially be treated the same way the werecreatures are treated in the Empire."    

"But that's a far fetched assumption!"    

"Somehow, that's how it is with Magic. It's never simple or straightforward. Since the gods are made up with the essence of magic, they can also perform unbelievable feats with this magic. It's also a far fetched assumption to say they want to kill all the Divine Birds. However, that is one chance we cannot take."    

"How exactly are you going to stop a god?"    

"We defeat a god with another god, just like they did in the past. Most of this is just assumptions and I hope I'm wrong. It may be callous of me but I cannot take the blame for the Queen's death. Taking the blame would mean I am guilty but I am not the one who killed the Queen neither am I the one who was supposed to protect her."    

"But you're the only trascendental in the entire world."    

"And what exactly can a transcendental do against a god, not to talk about two of them? If they could easily kill her instead of negotiating with me, it means they were planning to kill her in the first place."    

Vera's face fell. She knew it was entirely a possibility but who could blame her? Her entire world view was falling apart right before her eyes. She didn't know gods could descend to murder humans so easily and she couldn't even make out the massive situation she had been thrown in.    

"The Future Queen needs your help. I'll send you back, Vera. The North will send support to the New Queen. You would have to discuss with her and the other royal children on how the Queen died. You cannot tell them she was killed by the gods and somehow implicating me will put Polivia in bigger danger. I trust you are wise."    

Natalia snapped her fingers and Vera was gone. She exhaled, leaning on the chair. Marvis parted her hair and placed another kiss on her forehead.    

"You're doing great. It would have definitely gone worse."    

"I can only see myself as the villain in this case but you're right. It could've gotten worse. Amaika, what are your thoughts?"    

"You could've easily snapped your fingers and brought me there. You could've saved the Queen. It now looks like you intentionally left her to die. This could lead to an even worse situation."    

"I don't know what I can say to justify my decision. I was bargaining on the assumption that they weren't going to kill the Queen in the first place. I was wrong. But that brings me to the simple question of why they couldn't have taken you as easily as they killed the Queen. It's almost as if…their purpose was to kill the Queen."    

"That's absurd."    

"Is it? I already told you I met Uriel first. She didn't seem to know who I was. But she returned with the knowledge that I am the Duchess of Graviscera and she targeted the person that was most problematic to me. Ordinarily, no one is supposed to even know I'm alive after wiping their memories of the conference. So whoever told her was able to evade my spell and has full knowledge of what happened. I can think of three people. One, the crown prince of Illumine, two, the king of Ducroft and three, the Saintess."    

"How could she evade your spell?"    

"She would be impervious to memory wipe because she has the magic of angels and a piece of Nataroth's soul. Princess Alana would be a suspect as well but you can tell she's not very bright nor does she know how to plot like that. Adelie Grayson is my main suspect. It's also incredibly suspicious how she got to use the magic of angels so easily."    

"But how will she know the Divine Bird is in your possession?"    

"History books are abundant in the Church of Ducroft. She could've easily learned the fact that Werephoenixes used to be Divine Birds at some point in history. You're a werephoenix so it wasn't hard to put together."    

"I never thought I would see the day when someone schemed as deeply as you. I was wrong. What are you going to do about it?"    

"She has put me in quite the situation. If I strongarm my way out of it, it can possibly lead to the Divide of Polivia and that would focus my attention solely on the kingdom and nowhere else. If I accept the blame, I would let Princes Temara weaken me and take away my position so even if they attack, I won't be able to do anything. But, there is always a third option."    

"What's that?"    

"I'm leaving you in charge and I'm leaving Polivia for the time being."    

"That's bound to cause a lot of problems, is it not?"    

"It will but it has a perfect solution."    

"What do you mean?"    

"My brother is becoming the future king. He must've realized what I'm trying to do by now so he will hold out the fort. You must know how persuasive he can be, especially with money as a weapon."    

"Yes, I am very familiar," Amaika replied, memories of how 'persuasive' Sebastian could be flashing through their head. Marvis chuckled, remembering when he got to see the man in action. He was good at what he did too.    

"So, where are you going?" Marvis asked.    

"I don't know yet. I have to ask Madaline if she has found what we're looking for. I'll call her now."    

Madaline soon appeared, sitting beside Amaika. She scared them, just appearing out of nowhere. They were also joined by Quene, who took the empty seat Vera was sitting on before. Natalia recounted her theory to both of them and they agreed that it made some form of sense, even if they couldn't figure out what was going on in their heads.    

"I've always known Uriel and Thiton were up to something but to think it's something of this scale, I'm a little surprised. I'm beginning to think that my title as God of wisdom is as useless as my existence in the first place."    

"Well, since I've basically done all the thinking for us, isn't it time you redeemed yourself?"    

Marvis and Amaika were shell shocked. Only Natalia could speak to a god like that. Quene took it in good faith and laughed.    

"You speak just like her. I really wish we can bring her majesty back to life."    

That inspired a long awkward silence, especially seeing the glum expression on Madaline's face.    

"Madaline, have you been able to figure out how to extract Nataroth's soul fragment from Alana and Adelie?"    

"Quene has. It's a very complicated ritual that has an uncertain level of success but if it's doable and you're willing to try it, we can proceed."    

"Excellent. Marvis, can you kidnap a Queen?"    

"I haven't done missions like that in a long time. Do you want her in one piece or multiple pieces?"    

"I would like for her to be unharmed, thank you very much. Where's the best place to perform the ritual, Madaline?"    

"With the concentration of mana and world order, Aldie's Hollow is the best place. We might bother Aldie a little bit but it's for the best."    

"Excellent. We depart at dawn."