The Duke's Unwanted Wife

Alighting from the carriage, they followed Natalia on her tour of the place. The barony of Grayson wasn’t that interesting as regards landmark or anything worth of note. Disappointed, Natalia kept walking, trying to feel out Adelie. She was trying to confirm if she existed and two, if she still had memories of a past life. At a time like this, she had not yet contracted Madaline or even been picked up by the Grayson family.    

    

“I’ve never been to a place so unremarkable in my life,” Sebastian commented. Vivia agreed with him with a nod of her head. Natalia agreed it was boring but she needed to see Adelie with her own eyes. As they walked around the town, they caught the eyes of many, especially the begging children. If there was one thing that stood out in the Barony, it was that the number of begging children was exponentially large.    

    

Because of the war happening in close proximity to the Barony, it was likely that their parents had been conscripted as foot soldiers in the war. The Baron was a greedy man that didn’t care about his people, even in such a small territory. As annoyed as she was, Natalia was aware that she couldn’t do anything to help them. She also knew that she could find Adelie within them.    

    

“That’s surprising. She has such unique hair,” Vivia commented, gesturing at a child. Smiling, NAtalia walked forward. She stopped in front of the child with a defensive pose and guarded eyes.    

    

“Adelie.”    

    

“Who are you? How do you know my name?!”    

    

“You are quite a defensive child. Even though I just want to be your friend.”    

    

“You nobles don’t want to befriend anyone! You want to use us and kill us, don’t you? I’ll never go with you! I’ll never…”    

    

“Oh dear. What has been happening here?” Vivia gasped, worry in her eyes. Seeing that expression on her mother’s face, Natalia knew she could no longer ignore the children there.    

    

“The Merchant Association often takes care of the war orphans. Even if you won’t trust us, you’ll trust them, right?”    

    

Adelie watched warily as Natalia brought out a gold medallion with the coat of arms of the Merchant Association. Adelie could recognize the coat of arms and the gold was most certainly real. She lowered her vigilance as it was her body that protected most of the orphans from the strange nobles.    

    

Using her magic, Natalia sent a message to her grandmother. She also used her magic to transport the picnic set she acquired in advance. While she did that, a huge basket appeared by Vivia’s feet. The smell of freshly baked fairy buns entered her nostril, stimulating her appetite.    

    

“Those are for the children. We will have our picnic over the valley after you’re done giving them the fairy buns. Or you don’t want to?”    

    

“Of course I will!” Vivia replied with excitement. Sebastian drew his sword to make the children submit and Vivia distributed the food equally for them. Natalia watched them from the sidelines, keeping a particular eye on her mother in case she couldn’t stand the exhaustion. Giving her a chair helped with that.    

    

“You’re strange,” she heard a familiar voice comment beside her ears.    

    

“I could say the same thing for you. You seem to know a lot.”    

    

“Well, my mother taught me a lot before she abandoned me. She used to be part of the Merchant Association and she told me that Gold medallion is so rare, it might as well not exist. Who are you?”    

    

“If you don’t know who I am, then you don’t know how much of a relief that is. If you want to know who I am, then you have to follow me.”    

    

“You sound like a suspicious person even thought you’re not that much older than me. That’s one more thing that’s strange about you.”    

    

“I’ll take that as a complement. It’s your choice to personally come with me. The Merchant Association will be here to take all of you away. If you choose to stand beside me as my peer, then I think we can work together.”    

    

“A peer? That’s strange. Wouldn’t you call someone like me an attendant?”    

    

“You’re a noble, even if you’re a bastard. Besides, you have so much potential. Why let it waste?”    

    

“Wait! You know who my father is?”    

    

“The reason why you’re on the streets? Of course I do. Couldn’t forget that bastard even if I tried. So, what’s your choice, Adelie?”    

    

Vivia was finally done so they could have their lunch. Sebastian instructed the children to sit and finish their buns in one place so they wouldn’t get stolen by others. Once they were sure the children would be safe, they went to the hills to have their lunch. Vivia bit into the fairy buns and an expression of pure bliss appeared on her face.    

    

“It was so much torture to just smell them and not eat them. Where did you get these buns?”    

    

“From actual fairies. They were happy to give them to me.”    

    

Vivia almost choked on her buns. She didn’t know it was possible that Natalia could shock her further but who knew it could get worse? Vivia consoled herself and continued eating her buns.    

    

“So…why is she here?” Sebastian asked, gesturing to Adelie. Unlike the other children, she ate with manners, cleaning her mouth with a handkerchief Vivia gave her. Natalia raised her eyebrows.    

    

“What do you mean why is she here? She’s going with us.”    

    

“Explain that earlier!”    

    

“I thought I did. I’ll try to explain things sooner. Eat up, Sebastian.”    

    

Sebastian rolled his eyes and kept eating his buns. While they were having luncy peacefully, there was turmoil in Ducroft’s royal palace. The sleep deprived king faced his disappointing subject. He saw deadly potential in the Marquis but now, the man was facing the biggest disgrace of his life.    

    

“You had the jon of keeping the treaty. How could you mess this up, Marquis?”    

    

“I apologize, your majesty. The situation was truly out of my control. There were…extraterrestial forces involved.”    

    

“What do you mean?”    

    

“They were taken away by a fairy, sire.”    

    

The king couldn’t possibly know what else to say. With his recent dreams and hallucinations, he couldn’t see it as anything but a bad sign. He authorized the divorce, accepting the extra conditions offered by the Merchant Association.    

    

“I hope you will be able to rectify your mistakes another way, Marquis.”    

    

“I will do my best, your majesty.”    

    

Walking out of the palace, Marquis Adamantine felt strange. Even though they were burdens, even though he wished for better, now that they were gone, he felt…empty. With that feeling, came a sense of loneliness.    

    

“Marquis Adamantine, it’s truly a pleasure to see you in the palace. It’s usually hard to see a man like you,” he heard the familiar voice of the Queen up ahead. He bowed, his eyes meeting the youngest princess’s eyes. Ariella hid behind her mother’s skirt, frightened.    

    

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, your majesty.”    

    

“Oh, don’t be so formal. You didn’t come with the children today?”    

    

“No, your majesty. I had something important to discuss with the king.”    

    

“Oh, is that so? Is it regarding the war?”    

    

“No, it’s nothing that alarming. I have to leave now, your majesty. I will return when the need calls for it.”    

    

“Alright. Send my regards to your children.”    

    

He left, the royal family proceeding to the throne room. The Queen took her place beside the King, looking at his face. Normally, she wouldn’t care about him but if anything happened to him, then the royal family might not survive, especially with the Grand Duke making meritorious deeds in the war.    

    

“What’s the problem, your majesty?”    

    

“I just had to authorize a divorce between Marquis Adamantine and Lady Hazel. He lost the children as well.”    

    

“What?! How did that happen?”    

    

“Apparently, we violated the agreement so Dame Violet came to take her daughter back. They wanted to start a war so instead of that, they suggested a divorce and took the children. Perhaps…I can sleep better now.”    

    

“How is that supposed to help you sleep better?! You know the marriage alliance was important?! What if they take their investment somewhere else?”    

    

“They can’t do that. Where else would they take it? The Adamantine family is the owner of the largest adamantine mines in the continent. I’m sure we can come to another agreement. Now, my Queen, we have another important duty to tend to. Guards, open the door.”    

    

The doors opened and a woman wearing all black and a black veil that flowed freely behind her walked in with a young child. She curtseyed in front of the king and Queen, her steel gaze penetrating them both.    

    

“What can we do for you, Grand Duchess Kristen?”    

    

“I would like to plead with you, your majesty, to call an end to this senseless war. I will not stand by until you make me a widow at such a young age. Please, consider my child, consider the people of this kingdom and end this senseless war! We can fix this with a peace treaty! Please, bring my husband back!”