The Duke's Unwanted Wife

“How grand. They could spare some thoughts for the children on the street at least,” Adelie complained as she walked through the palace halls with the Hazel family.    

    

“They don’t even spare any thoughts for the ones under their own roof. Adults can be less thoughtless than one would expect.”    

    

“Then why are they being allowed to lead an entire kingdom?”    

    

“It’s because of bloodline. By the way, asking that question out loud is treason. You can lose your head for that.”    

    

Adelie kept her mouth shut and continued walking until they reached the room allocated for the Hazel family. Incidentally, they ran into the Grand Duchess and her son.    

    

“Your grace,” they all greeted and curtsied. She greeted them back with a short nod, her face on Vivia’s.    

    

“I heard about your divorce, Lady Vivia. It must have been distressing.”    

    

“It was but I’m glad that it’s over. Thank you for caring about me and my children, your grace.”    

    

The shy child that clutched his mother’s hand was not the Grand Duke Fredrich that Natalia recognized. She wondered just how much he would change with his fathers influence. She averted her gaze and started to make her way into the room with her siblings. However, the next words out of the Grand Duchess’s mouth stopped them in their tracks.    

    

“Is that your daughter? It’s been a while since I last saw her. She grew up so beautifully, didn’t she?”    

    

“…yes, she’s my pride and joy,” Vivia replied, blocking Natalia with her body.    

    

“Oh, I know. Our children are roughly around the same age. It must be boring constantly following their parents around. Why don’t they play together with the royal children, at least until they return to their respective homes?”    

    

They dreaded the words and she went ahead to say it. Unless she had a good reason, she couldn’t arbitrarily refuse the Grand Duchess’s invitation. Vivia looked at her daughter and she nodded.    

    

“It would be an honor to become playmates for a week with Lord Kristen,” Natalia smiled. He only gave her a curious look from behind his mother’s skirt.    

    

“Come on, Fredrich. Say hi to your new playmates.”    

    

“Hello, I’m Fredrich Kristen. It’s nice to meet you.”    

    

“I am Natalia Adamantine, this is my brother Sebastian Adamantine and this is my sister, Adelie Hazel.”    

    

“Hmm? I haven’t seen her before. Is she a relative of yours, Lady Vivia?”    

    

“This is my adopted daughter, Adelie.”    

    

“Oh, I see. I see you are still magnanimous, Lady Vivia. I think my son will be in great hands.”    

    

Contrary to what Fredrich believed, according to what he had seen since he was a toddler, the Adamantine siblings weren’t fawning over him. Sebastian had the servants set up archery targets on the trees around, basically ignoring them all as he shot his targets blindfolded. He was watched with awe by the servants. Natalia also ignored the boy, teaching Adelie geography. Feeling left out, he decided to interrupt Natalia.    

    

“The Kingdom of Winor isn’t the smallest kingdom. It’s the kingdom of Polivia.”    

    

“What criteria are you using to judge, Lord Kristen?”    

    

“Landmass.”    

    

“Then you are wrong. The kingdom of Polivia is measured by the mountains and forests that surround it, creating a well divided boundary between the two continents. There’s also the Berden Pass which can be categorically placed under the territory of the kingdom of Polivia because the kingdom was part of the ancient Berden Empire. Isn’t that so, Bastian?”    

    

The arrow hit the target again, breaking the tree into two pieces this time. Sebastian removed his blindfold and walked towards the table. Fredrich was intimidated but he tried to look unbothered. He soon realized that Sebastian didn’t regard him with importance, going straight to his sister.    

    

“You’re treading a dangerous line with that kind of mentality. The Berden Empire also included part of the current Empire of Illumine and a small part of our kingdom. It was a fairly huge Empire that produced the infamous Aleria the Conqueror. The Berden Pass is regarded formally as neutral ground and informally as the border land between the Empire of Illumine and the Kingdom of Ducroft. But you are right when you said by landmass, the Kingdom of Polivia is larger than the Kingdom of Winor. You can find that out with any basic map. I could gift you a map, Lord Kristen.”    

    

“I don't need a map, thank you very much.”    

    

“Ah, is that so? Then tell me, which is the territory with the most non-human species?”    

    

“The Kingdom of Ducroft?”    

    

“That’s wrong. The territory currently with the most non-human species is the forest of Damnation. I thought you would be able to answer that easily since you live so close to it. Perhaps you need the map after all,” Sebastian leaned in, smirking.    

    

“Are you mocking me?!”    

    

“Oh, I couldn’t be. We were having a debate on the same topic and I was offering my help. If you felt offended by that, then I just apologize.”    

    

“Why does your apology feel half hearted, Lord Adamantine?” A maturing male voice intervened. They recognized the voice immediately and bowed to greet the royal children. They were more pompous than the son of the Grand Duke, carrying an untouchable aura. However, those who were accustomed to them knew they were nothing but brats with power.    

    

“Maybe it’s the way you heard it. I can assure you that my apology was sincere.”    

    

Princess Francesca didn’t change throughout the years. She still had desire in her eyes for Sebastian and a sort of superiority she used to lord over everyone else, including her sister. Ariella hid behind her sister, as always. Natalia was amused, seeing that there were just some things that didn’t change.    

    

“Lady Adamantine, who might this be?” Princess Francesca asked haughtily. Natalia looked at Adelie and the other knew it was a cue for her to introduce herself.    

    

“I am Adelie Hazel, your highness,” she curtsied.    

    

“A Hazel, huh? So it’s true that you have returned to your mother’s home, Lady Natalia. Shouldn’t you have any shame, showing your face here?”    

    

“I think the one that has to be shameful here is not me. After all, I wasn’t the one who decided to come uninvited to a play date.”    

    

“How dare you?!”    

    

“Oh, don’t be like that, sister. The royal siblings don’t like feeling left out. The invitation was extended to Princess Alana but maybe they decided to escort her. Only…I don’t see her highness, the third princess. Where might she be?” Sebastian said, pretending to look around. The happy expression on Francesca’s face fell almost immediately. Adelie didn’t know it was possible for such a regal person to make an expression like that.    

    

“Could it be…you forgot to bring her highness? No, that couldn’t possibly be. The royal children are noble in heart and selfless in nature. There is no way you would’ve forgotten to bring your own sister to where she was invited,” Sebastian hammered in, making them all feel guilty.    

    

“You don’t have to worry, your highnesses. We will take a page from your book and be selfless in nature as well. We won’t say a word to our parents about this one thing you overlooked. It was our fault as we didn’t bother to check where to address it. It looks like you want to play with Lord Fredrich so we will leave you alone now,” Natalia finally said, taking Adeline’s hand. They left the place with their servants, leaving behind dumbfounded children.    

    

“I didn't know that was possible,” Adelie said as they made their way down the path. Natalia and Sebastian looked at themselves and shrugged.    

    

“Our families keep each other in balance. We might not be equal on the surface but none of those families would dare to start a conflict with us without reason. Besides, adults butting into the matters of children is looked down upon. This means…”    

    

“We can bully them all we like,” Sebastian finished her sentence. They giggled maniacally, reverting back to their neutral expressions in such a short time, it was frightening.    

    

“Can we really just go back like this?”    

    

“Oh, we’re not going back to our quarters.”    

    

“Then where are we going?”    

    

“To see the third princess. We’re going to rescue a princess, just like in a fairy tale.”    

    

Adeline’s confusion only deepened when they made their way confidently into an area that was only for nobles and entered without serious scrutiny. The King’s palace and the Queen’s, where the royal children lived, was beyond the boundless security that they easily passed through. There was also a thicket of trees covering an old path. Adelie was ready to leave when she saw the siblings starting to make their way through the thicket.    

    

Making their way through, they saw an old, decrepit palace standing wearily in the middle of a large clearing. As they moved closer, Adelie stopped them.    

    

“I don't understand. What are we doing here? There is no way a princess is living here. We can just turn back.”    

    

“Don’t worry, Adelie. You will love her highness.”