The Duke's Unwanted Wife

That Alana wasn’t there to welcome him again after he brushed her off the first time angered him. He immediately went to look for her and found that she wasn’t in her tent. He pulled aside a maid and asked where she was. Finally, he knew where she was and walked to find her. She was standing on the shore, staring at the sun sinking in the horizon and he felt his anger slowly slip away. She turned to look at him and smiled.    

    

“Your majesty, isn’t it beautiful?”    

    

“...it is.”    

    

He stood behind her, putting his arms around her shoulders. They stood there, watching the sunset while he was trying to remember why he was angry in the first place. It wasn’t Alana’s fault. It was Natalia’s.    

    

“Alana, we keep…no secrets from each other, right?”    

    

“Your majesty, there are some secrets of mine you wouldn’t want to know.”    

    

“Such as your infertility, right?”    

    

The smile on Alana’s face dropped. She turned to look at him, fear slowly filling her heart. She, of all people, knew how scary he could be.    

    

“I…”    

    

“Alana, you can’t tell me she was actually right, can you? You can’t tell me…you can’t bear our child?!”    

    

“I’m sorry, your majesty. It’s not my fault. I didn’t know, I tried to prevent it but I found out too late that my step-sister had been poisoning me since I first got my period.”    

    

“Isn’t it that wench Ariella?!”    

    

“No, it was Francesca.”    

    

“Why didn’t you tell me?”    

    

“You haven’t given me any chances to tell you. I barely even had the chance to speak to you before we got married and those chances became considerably lesser when we did get married. You never want to discuss things you consider tiring because you had a long day. When was I supposed to say it?!”    

    

“Alana, if I cannot have children, what’s the point of becoming king? I knew it, I shouldn’t have let her go.”    

    

“Her? Your majesty, if I had married any other man, I honestly wouldn’t have had this kind of problem. Your majesty, some of the fault is yours, isn’t it? The virility of the men of the Kristen household and the curse. These things make it hard for me to conceive. Your majesty, you can’t honestly be that selfish and put all the blame on me. If you see me as a failure because I cannot carry your children and wish to cast me away, then do it now. Or if you want to kill me just like you killed Natalia, then by all means, go ahead.”    

    

She bared her neck and her eyes showed defiance. Fredrich paused and wondered just how she knew about the curse. He also wondered why she seemed so willing to leave him or die trying.    

    

“Alana, you, do you not love me?”    

    

“I do love you, your majesty. But if your love amounts to something like this, then I would rather shed that burden.”    

    

This time, it was Fredrich’s turn to feel fear. He embraced her, his heart beating wildly out of control. He felt her heartbeat as well and counted the minutes it took for her to embrace him as well.    

    

“I will find a way, Alana. I’m sorry. I was just confused. Please, don’t leave me.”    

    

“Then I will ask you not to leave me as well, your majesty.”    

    

Just then, as they embraced each other, both wondered just why Natalia didn’t have a single child when she and Fredrich were together. Alana knew that she had children in her past life. Fredrich was certain they consummated their marriage. Or did they? Alana decided to ask.    

    

“Your majesty, are you sure Natalia didn’t conceive the entire time you were married?”    

    

“I don’t know. I’m fairly certain we slept together. I just..can’t remember.”    

    

“Your majesty, you have impeccable memory. How can you not…wait! What if it didn’t happen? What if you didn’t consummate your marriage?”    

    

A strange feeling set in as they parted from each other’s embrace and began thinking. Alana thought long and hard until she finally recalled something.    

    

“Your majesty, did you smell something sweet those times you supposedly slept with her?”    

    

“Yes, I can vaguely remember the scent of something sweet. I know it immediately made me feel drowsy and I slept well those days.”    

    

“Your majesty, do you remember the company Natalia was running in the capital? I’m sure she made products that were designed to make you sleep better. I knew about them because my brother used to use them. I’m fairly certain they were called Illusion candles. If you burn them, they produce a sweet scent that helps you sleep well.”    

    

“I don’t remember seeing a candle like that.”    

    

“It was most likely disguised with magic. Your majesty, you never slept with Natalia,” Alana said with mixed feelings. She didn’t know whether she was supposed to be happy or sad about it. It would explain his lack of experience in the bedroom or their awkward encounter on the first night. Fredrich felt the same. Normally, he would be glad that he never touched her but now, he felt a tinge of hopelessness. If he never consummated the marriage, the marriage was never valid in the first place.    

    

“We can…think of this better when we get back home. Maybe I’ll try to contact my mother and see if she can help us out,” Fredrich finally said.    

    

While the couple were feeling a particular range of emotions, another couple, well, they were striving to be one, were going through another range of emotions. Natalia sat at the edge of her bed, watching the man her heart yearned for tucked into a corner with droopy ears.    

    

“I’m the one who should feel guilty. Why are you like that?”    

    

“I just…ran away and left you there like a coward.”    

    

“It was understandable. I kissed you without asking. I understand. Now, if you can get yourself out of that corner and come eat dinner, that would be very helpful. I can’t stand seeing you like that.”    

    

“You’re not upset?” he raised his head, showing his glassy eyes.    

    

“Upset? Do you know how happy I was that you kissed me back?! This is ridiculous. Marvis, come here.”    

    

Whining in a low voice, he stood up and dragged himself over to where she was sitting, kneeling in front of her. She stretched her hand out and held it out like that, hovering above his head. He pushed his head to touch her palm and she took that assurance to run her hand through his hair.    

    

“Why does he want you back so badly? I feel like there’s a reason he called you like that. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”    

    

“No, I feel like if I tell you, you won’t…judge me.”    

    

“Of course not. Did he hurt you?”    

    

“I’ll let you be the judge of that. When I was younger and the prince saved me from the streets, we started to grow up together. I was the first werecreature allowed in the palace and it garnered a lot of reactions from a lot of people. There were people who protested but his imperial highness kept me by his side. I felt so grateful and I pledged to remain loyal to him. But I didn’t realize that as I grew, my loyalty started to turn into something more. As you can tell, my emotions are very easily reflected on my body so they were quickly noticed by his imperial highness. I feed he would throw me out, or he would order me and my kind to be put to death for daring to think like that. But his imperial highness began to…indulge me. Those days were the most bittersweet days of my life. But I remained loyal to him to the point where I started to neglect my kind and accept any kind of mission from his imperial highness. He knew exactly how to get me to agree to his requests. I don’t know how he feels or if he truly wants me back with pure intentions but I cannot trust him after seeing how he treats my kind.”    

    

Natalia took her time to ruminate on what he had just said. She felt the relationship between the two was a bit confusing but she never realized it was something like that. But she figured it was one sided. The Crown Prince didn’t look like the type to have such feelings. He and Fredrich were incredibly similar in that aspect.    

    

“I think I can understand why you are so hesitant to express intimacy with me. Is it that impossible?”    

    

“No, that’s not it! I swear! Lia, I really, really want to be without inhibitions. I really wish that we didn’t have so many obstacles blocking our way and we could simply be in love like anyone else. But Lia, I may not have seen it but I know what your ex-husband did to you. I know you fear intimacy even more than I fear it. I know you hold some kind of prejudice against men and sometimes, I can see your blatant disgust when a man is around you. As much as you’re waiting for me, I’m waiting for you. One day, Lia, when we both can bypass those challenges, I want to be the first one to say it.”    

    

“What are you saying?” she chuckled, kissing his forehead.    

    

“I’ll be the first to say it and I’ll announce it on the Northern Mountains for everyone to hear.”    

    

“No!”    

    

They stared at each other for a few seconds and burst out laughing.