It took six years with two failed engagements for the woman, who was regarded as the flower of the society, to finally reach her downfall. Deatrice was seated on the sofa in the drawing room, her back slightly hunched. Her eyes were set on the mailbox she spent days staring at, the sight of it reminding her of the time when she had made her social debut; her large mailbox was filled with at least twenty letters a day that she had to call her second cousin to help her respond with all the letters. They used to spend the whole day lounging in the drawing room as she uttered the words while her cousin scribbled them down on paper.
But now, not a single letter was inside the mailbox.
“So, he must be really dead, huh.” She muttered to herself.
Maybe he hasn’t settled down yet, but he could’ve at least sent her a letter telling her he’s staying at an inn or something. It was Deatrice who had rescued him after all, helping him escape on a boat while everyone thought he was dead. He could’ve at least written her a letter, but now, the hope she was clinging onto was gone.
The squad chasing after him was intent on catching him and it didn’t matter that he was out in the sea, they would surely chase him to the ends of the earth. The absence of his letter meant there’s a high chance that he really was dead. Deatrice could imagine it; Fredhi in the middle of the square, rope tied around his neck as his legs dangled freely in the air, the typical punishment for traitors.
But she didn’t cry nor wallow in despair. Unlike her first engagement where she had genuinely fallen in love at such a young age and rushed for marriage, her father was the one who insisted on her second engagement.
It was her father who encouraged Fredhi, the second prince of the neighboring country Galaba, to usurp the throne of Galaba. With this usurpation, rebellion has started, and soldiers fought against their comrades who followed Fredhi. Before all these, her father also made sure to secure her engagement to Fredhi to acquire authority once the second prince becomes king.
Hence, if there’s anyone who should be crying right now, it’s her father, not her. He just lost his horse.
It was he who had failed miserably. But what was she doing here waiting for his letter? Deatrice couldn’t help but laugh at her own demise. She recalled her father’s words, “Even if a woman finds herself in a loveless marriage, she will eventually find the heart to love her husband.” She couldn’t lie there was a small part of her that wished for this to be true. But it was impossible now.
“Lady, the master is calling for you.” A maid snapped her out of her thoughts. Deatrice peeled her eyes off the empty mailbox and put on a pair of slippers before heading to the duke’s office.
From her engagement with Fredhi to the attempt of usurping the throne of Galaba, the duke’s plans went by smoothly until the very end. The duke was not at all threatened by the then King of Galaba, deeming him lazy and incompetent, and the latter’s incompetency also stretched to his knights that were lacking in power.
However, just before the usurpation, everything changed when the emperor of the Empire sent a knight to the castle claiming his blood ties with the Galaba royal family and protecting the King of Galaba from the oncoming attack. The siege ended before it even started, and Fredhi the usurper was branded a traitor to the empire.
“The bloodline of the emperor runs all the way till the end of Hasto. How ridiculous it is then to pity the King of Galaba just because he was a far relative of his? He stayed silent until today! Why is he suddenly doing all of this now!”
The duke was enraged at the fickle-minded emperor who had slyly ruined everything he had prepared for. While he was seething on his spot, a knight came to ask him about what they should do at the sudden influx of the emperor’s knights at their doorsteps.
Overwhelmed and full of emotions, the duke rashly commanded him to take matters into their own hands.
The knights who were ordered to rebel at the last minute were swept away in an instant and they didn’t even have the chance to properly lift their swords. The duke only came to his senses after everything was done, quickly saying he didn’t know that the knights of the empire would come to visit in the middle of the night, and the knights had unwittingly mistook them for enemies. He even turned his back on his own knights by saying they have rebelled against the empire in an attempt to save face, like he was not the one who ordered them in the first place.