The Duke's Unwanted Wife

“You’ll teleport home if I do!”    

“Of course, I will. You’re lucky I even decided to stop by. I can’t stay forever and you can visit me whenever you want!”    

“It’s not the same!”    

“Princess Temara, please take your husband away.”    

Instead of intervening, she was dying of laughter, like she always did. Natalia caught a glimpse of something in her body and a small smile stretched on her lips. She was able to pry Sebastian’s hands off her body as carefully as possible, handing a couple of documents to him.    

“I need to return home. If it’s anything urgent, I’ll be back as soon as possible.”    

She snapped her fingers and she was gone much to the complaints of her brother. She appeared in her room where Marvis was waiting. He walked up to her and sniffed her, recognizing Sebastian’s scent.    

“You should rest,” he said, taking off her jacket.    

“Unfortunately, I cannot afford that luxury at the moment. I need to check up on the town.”    

“Just rest for a few minutes before we depart. You expended a lot of your energy on the island and you’re only going to expend more.”    

“I will rest when I…”    

“I’m not listening to your excuses, Lia. You are working too hard for someone who deserves to sit and watch everyone bow at her feet.”    

“Everyone has to work, even me.”    

“You don’t have to work every single day, every single minute. You can just lay on my fur for a few hours doing nothing. Surely nothing is more comfortable than that.”    

“You drive a hard bargain but I just want to know if you’re doing this because you have nothing to do.”    

“It’s nothing like that. I wanted to speak to you about what I have decided to do but after seeing your tired eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to. We can talk about it after you’ve taken a nap, okay?” he said, placing his lips on hers. She didn’t reject his kiss, staying in the moment with him. They both heard the door open and slowly parted to stare intently at Count Brenn who interrupted them. He coughed awkwardly, holding up a pile of documents.    

“I…came to check if her grace has returned. We need you to look at these and see if you can sign them at your earliest convenience.”    

“She needs to rest,” Marvis replied before she could say anything.    

“No, Marvis, I have to go. We can lay together in bed the whole day tomorrow but I need to settle things now. Just…trust me, okay?”    

“I wish you will trust me too as much as I’ve always trusted you.”    

“I do trust you. I’ll see you later, okay?” she pecked him on his lips before walking away with Count Brenn who gave Marvis a second glance before he followed. Marvis was close to baring his fangs but he chose not to.    

“Your grace, there were some complaints about your choice of laborers.”    

“And what do you mean by that?”    

“Hiring only werecreatures and beastkin to work on the construction of the town has raised major complaints with the ministers and some of the commoners.”    

“How so?”    

“They said you’re practicing nepotism and blatant favoritism.”    

“Count Brenn, do you also think I am doing such a thing?”    

“Your grace, to be fair, that is exactly what it looks like. I don’t want to blatantly disapprove of your choices but with the context provided and…”    

“That’s a lot of grammar for a simple ‘I don’t trust you’ It’s okay though. I hope we can all remember when my brother started his first development project in Polivia and people were also complaining that he was treating the artisans and engineers of Polivia like his slaves and was using his position to maltreat them even though he was working according to a schedule and he paid for their labor. I wanted to avoid those complaints so I took it upon myself to hire people who can do strenuous labor quite easily. As you can see, you cannot satisfy people and you, Count Brenn, are joining people to criticize me when the aim behind my decision is quite clear. Do I have to discuss with her majesty about your validity as my aide?”    

“No, your grace. Forgive me, your grace.”    

“People only ask for forgiveness when they are wrong. So you are admitting you are wrong and saying you would only trust my decisions from now on?”    

“Yes, your grace.”    

“Excellent. Now, bring me the account books for the construction. I will not be wasting another penny uncalled for.”    

After berating Count Brenn, she walked into her office. Amaika was already there, working through documents. They glanced up briefly and when they saw Natalia, stood up and bowed. Smiling, Natalia went to ruffle their hair.    

“It must have been rough all on your own.”    

“I’m fine with following your orders.”    

“So, did you find what I asked you to find?”    

“No, master. I couldn’t find a spec of an error on the accounting documents for the construction of the castle.”    

“They covered their tracks quite well. Did you do as I asked for the town’s construction?”    

“Yes, master. I was able to avoid unnecessary costs and the laborers were paid just like you instructed me to.”    

“Good. Now that one part of our plan is underway, we can proceed with the others. There’s no fuss now because I can explain my way out of this one but it would get much harder in the future.”    

“People will undoubtedly complain if you’re giving this much leeway to the werecreatures. I doubt the Queen will let you pass laws arbitrarily.”    

“Amaika, one of my many talents is knowing exactly how to catch people in a perfect trap. You just have to worry about your people while I take the title of a villain."    

"You're quite literally the standard of royalty. We can't just let you become a villain or a pariah."    

"People can think of it as my rebellion. I will be glorious in history. Besides, I'm only 19. People will think my rebellion is coming late and treat it like juvenile wiles."    

"Are you doing this all for Marvis?"    

"What if I am? What's wrong with that?"    

"Nothing. I just wonder when you are going to start doing things for yourself. You always sacrifice yourself for the people you care about."    

"Why do you think I had this large castle built instead of a normal mansion? This is my vanity."    

"... I've known you for a long time, Master but I am still a long way ahead of understanding you."    

Natalia smiled and took a seat. The exact moment she picked up a pen to work, she felt a strange disturbance in the air. Frowning, she instantly disappeared from where she was.    

On the island, which was peaceful once more after the conference, the winds suddenly started to pick up. The inhabitants of the island took this as a sign and hid in their homes, expecting a huge storm. However, there was nothing like a storm, only the presence of something or someone otherworldly.    

When her feet touched the ground, it felt like the island would collapse from tremors. She wore a veil, her hands, waist and feet surrounded with little golden bells on a golden rope. She walked barefoot, the bells making a sound as she moved. She bent to touch the sand.    

"Who are you?"    

She rose and turned around to see who dared to ask her that question. Natalia hovered above the water, standing at a cautious distance.    

"The real question is who are you?"    

"I am Natalia Adamantine."    

"Oh, so you are that Natalia Adamantine. You're quite famous in the heavenly court. There were some gods considering making you their maiden servant when you died. I suppose humans cannot comprehend the presence of a god when they see one."    

"You're a god? Weird. I've felt the presence of two goddesses and it didn't feel as paltry as this."    

"YOU DARE INSULT ME, MORTAL?!"    

"I mean no disrespect. Us mortals have immense respect for the gods so we do not appreciate blasphemy of any kind. There are some people who declare themselves gods so even if I seem disrespectful, I'm just making sure you're not one of them."    

"Humph. Very well, mortal. I will show you just an extent of my aura and I will tell you my name."    

"Please, don't go easy on me."    

The goddess felt a little insulted by that and decided to unleash a larger portion of her aura than she intended. It swept past like a large energy wave, dividing the ocean Natalia floated over. It only pushed her back a bit and she wiped the blood on her cheeks away casually. She stretched her arms and they popped back in.    

"You…what are you?"    

"I thought the gods knew everything. Apparently not. You still haven't introduced yourself, esteemed goddess."    

"I am Uriel, goddess of magic and light."    

"It's a pleasure to meet you, your esteemed holiness. I'll introduce myself again. I'm Natalia Adamantine, a transcendental."