The Duke's Unwanted Wife

A very long time ago, on the same continent, there was an empire ruled by the gods. The humans depended on the gods and the gods depended on the humans. It was a very mutually beneficial relationship that seemed to work for everyone, on the surface. Oftentimes, the mediator was the queen of the gods in her infinite wisdom. However, as time went by, she realized that the only solution to the endless problems in the Empire was to withdraw the influence of the gods and close the heavenly court.    

    

This was met with fierce resistance from both gods and humans alike. They were too codependent on each other, especially the ascended gods. The original gods all agreed with the queen, seeing the disturbance in nature they tried so hard to preserve. However, even with her infinite wisdom and her infinite power, holding the world in her hands, she wasn’t able to stop the eventual collapse of both the heavenly court and the empire.    

    

{After I failed to ascend and died, there was a huge gap left in this world. Nobody, not even the gods know of this gap. If the original gods were still alive, perhaps it would’ve been obvious that the order of the world is not what it is supposed to be. Because they do not see this collapse, they presume it doesn’t exist. It’s quite pitiful that in pretending that it doesn’t exist, they are adding to the problem and rushing this world to its end. I am the only one that can close this gap and restore order to this world but as you can see, I am nothing more than a soul fragment now.}    

    

“You’re not going to ask me to do it?”    

    

{The weight of this duty is mine to bear and mine alone. However, I have failed and no one else can carry this burden. I have no other choice but to watch my beloved world crumble. Maybe it is for the better}    

    

“You’re not trying to fix it or solve anything?”    

    

{When has fixing the problem ever worked perfectly? The best thing is making sure the problem doesn’t happen in the first place. Even if you ascend today, with just a soul fragment, you can’t fix the gap. But if you’re a god, perhaps you can leave this doomed world and find a more stable world}    

    

“I never knew it was this easy for a god to give up on their own world so easily.”    

    

{I’ve been dead for a long, long time. What can a dead person do? If you take this upon yourself, whatever freedom you think you can get would be stripped from you. You would have to fight against constant disbelief. You will have to spend a very, very long time fighting. You don’t deserve that}    

    

"For some reason, I want to help you. I've managed to turn around many situations before. Perhaps I can help in some way. If the situation is too much for me, I can simply withdraw."    

    

{Are you the kind of person that believes in abandoning things halfway?}    

    

"If it concerns an entire world, perhaps. However, you'd be surprised with what careful planning can do."    

    

{If that is the case, then you need to consciously accept the fact that you are the key of destiny. Once you do, I would be fully integrated in your body and you will obtain the knowledge I have}    

    

"Fine. I can give it a go."    

    

A magic circle appeared beneath her. It was completely black in color with ancient symbols on it, symbols she had never seen before. She entered the circle and sat cross legged, her hands pressed together. A black symbol appeared on her forehead, two appearing on her hands. She took a deep breath and began to absorb.    

    

Natalia couldn't tell how long she had been there. All she knew was that she was absorbing both a ridiculous amount of mana and a ridiculous amount of knowledge. Things that were confusing to her suddenly felt clearer and the answers to the questions she asked all her life came to her.    

    

Outside the orb, a dark dense cloud gathered. Madaline appeared beside the Orb in an instant, confused as to what was happening. It had never happened in history that someone attracted heavenly tribulation while undergoing a god trial. It made no sense and Madaline didn't know what to do. Gods weren't supposed to interfere with heavenly tribulation. It was of no use so people didn't do it anyway.    

    

{Please be safe, Natalia}    

    

The second dark clouds in the space of a year, hovering just above Polivia, definitely startled everyone. Ascensions were uncommon but a second in a short period of time was definitely strange. The catastrophe the first ascension brought to Ducroft couldn’t be afforded by Polivia. However, it wasn’t like they could tell what was happening. What was worse was that two important foreign dignitaries were stuck in their kingdom. Anything could go wrong.    

    

The black clouds raged for hours with lighting and thunder. No one could tell what was happening and no one could go out to see who exactly was causing all the fuss. However, people soon discovered that unlike Ducroft, nothing was getting destroyed. There was no rain, only thunder and lightening. This encouraged people to go out to look for the sources but as they crossed into the north mountain range, everything became calm like nothing happened in the first place. It was very strange.    

    

Madaline stood outside the orb for what felt like hours. The barrier she kept in place was enough to keep people out but when it came to heavenly tribulation, it still hit the orb. The orb shattered in a few places so she was very worried. The color of the orb changed right before her eyes and the cracks began to heal. A black magic circle appeared below the orb and Madaline’s eyes widened because she could recognize the characters in the circle.    

    

{How……how could this be?!}    

    

The black circle widened and slowly turned invisible. From the middle of the disappearing circle, Natalia slowly appeared, something fundamentally different about her. Her hair was completely white and so were her eyes. Her skin was darker and there was an aura about her that Madaline immediately recognized. The circle completely disappeared and the orb became dim, falling into Madaline’s hands.    

    

{Natalia?}    

    

“Madaline. Why do you look so alarmed?”    

    

Madaline snapped her finger and a mirror appeared in front of Natalia. Once Natalia saw herself in the mirror, she too was taken aback. She didn’t realize she had changed that much. Everything appeared to be normal when she came back out so she thought nothing actually changed.    

    

“Wow, I have reached the epitome of beauty. This is….incredible.”    

    

{Perhaps you’re too beautiful. This is the face that almost collapsed the mortal years millions of years ago}    

    

“Yeah, I can live with that. How do I go back to my old appearance?”    

    

{For a transcendental, it should be as simple as a thought}    

    

“I’m….a transcendental?”    

    

{If you tried any harder, you would’ve ascended to godhood right away. You are perhaps the most powerful transcendental I have seen. However, if you do not learn how to control your magic, a small mishap can cause the destruction of a veritable part of our world}    

    

“Well, we don’t want that.”    

    

With a simple thought, she reverted her appearance. Madaline taught her to suppress her aura and one day faded into another. When they appeared in Natalia’s room, unsurprised to see a giant wolf whining on her bed. They were well aware he would’ve been howling mess if he wasn’t hiding out there.    

    

He jumped on Natalia immediately, licking her face and whining loudly. She smiled, allowing him lick her to his heart’s content. Madaline watched them, surprised as to how their relationship had progressed. According to what Natalia told her, they were supposed to be enemies. The fact that they had become closer than friends told her something different.    

    

{What do you want to do now?}    

    

“Everything is a mess in my head honestly. I think I need to process this. First, I have to deal with the horde of worried people coming towards this room right now. I’ll see you later, Madaline.”    

    

Madaline appeared a moment letter in front of Quene’s halls. He sensed her presence and came out, immediately worried because of the expression on her face. He wondered what had gone wrong but waited for her to speak. She passed the orb to him.    

    

“Run your magic through and look at it.”    

    

Confused, Quene did as she said and almost dropped the orb.    

    

“T-THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?! SHE’S BEEN DEAD FOR…”    

    

“You think I don’t know that?! This orb is full of Nataroth’s magic. I saw her unique magic circle myself. We…no, I need an answer.”    

    

“How am I supposed to know anything about this?! The fact that Nataroth’s influence is still this strong despite being dead for a long time just shows that there is something we’ve been missing for a long time. Knowing exactly how these things run, I am certain it is not anything good. I would like an answer too. Who exactly were you running this god trial for?”    

    

“Someone I suspected to be Nataroth’s incarnation, one of them. As you can see, it’s not a suspicion anymore.”