CH 2

To save what little dignity lift, the duke stood by the emperor’s side, appeased him to earn his forgiveness, but the emperor simply ignored his presence and left him unattended for three months. But even though the emperor appeared nonchalant, he was actually grinning to himself, smug at the fact that the duke was desperate enough that he visited him often. He continued to ignore his pleas, saying he was too busy but proceeding to take a nap after, and his excuses even stretched to him saying he couldn’t entertain the duke in his visit as he was too preoccupied feeding his tigers. Such a great insult—the emperor had put his tigers above the duke.

Then as if nothing happened, the emperor called for the duke. The latter stood in front of him, shakingly spewing out apologies after apologies, and tried to justify his recent behavior with excuses. Nonetheless, the emperor’s mind was made up and he wanted the duke pay the price.

Entering the office, the duke sat on the sofa as he kneaded his forehead in exasperation. Deatrice was seated on his opposite, not saying anything as the he regarded her with his grim eyes for a while.

“You look rough.”

Deatrice wasn’t sure if he was criticizing her, so she kept silent on her seat as the duke continued, “Of course, you’re probably still agonizing over what happened to Fredhi. I heard that you’re locked up in the drawing room waiting for his letter, which is understandable, but please pull yourself together. There are many eyes watching you, especially the people of lower status. You could host a tea party, or you could get in touch with your friends.”

Deatrice squeezed her hands together, slightly irritated at her father’s indifference. She went here because she assumed her father would talk about what had transpired with his meeting with the emperor. She did not come here to get some fatherly advice.

And was he really suggesting a tea party? Her status had taken a nosedive after his foolish mistake. She couldn’t go out, and the social community didn’t even show their sympathies nor did they send her a letter because they didn’t want to be associated with the duke’s family in any way. Now he was suggesting a tea party? Her mouth parted in disbelief and after a moment’s silence, she asked,

“… What happened to your meeting with His Majesty?”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Everything is fine.”

She was not satisfied with his answer, but at least he didn’t lie. She guessed everything worked out since he was sitting here, well and alive, and talking about hosting a tea party of all things. It seemed like he was not worried about his death anymore.

Unsure what to say, Deatrice looked down at her palms and stared at the ring on her finger. The blue sapphire ring complemented her pale hands well, and it was one of the few things she liked about her engagement. After everyone found out about what Fredhi’s demise, her annoying relatives kept their distance whenever they saw her looking at her ring, thinking that she’s missing her dead fiancé.

The duke on the other hand, the mastermind of it all, showed her little to no sympathy.

“As you may already know, even if Fredhi was alive, the engagement still wouldn’t push through.” The duke supplied coldly, not liking the fact she was looking at her ring. “The rebellion is a failed cause anyway since the emperor intervened. And Fredhi was literally just a second prince. So we would still break off the engagement either way.”

What’s the point of him saying this when Fredhi is already dead? Deatrice’s face darkened. “He died because of you. Why couldn’t you spare him some respect?”

“Me? I think you misunderstood. The reason why any of this happened was all because of the emperor’s doing. Also, wasn’t it Fredhi who first asked to marry you? Fredhi said he would take the fall if anything goes wrong and that he wouldn’t be dragging our family into the situation.” The duke said as a matter of factly.

Deatrice knew that, but seeing her father react to Fredhi’s death so uncaringly was just disgusting. Silence lingered between the two and it’s like there’s a dark shadow looming over the office. After a short pause, the duke spoke, “Anyway, let’s not be sensitive, okay? The dead is already dead, there’s nothing we could do about it. I was simply stating facts.”

He was right. But Deatrice sensed there’s something strange, with the way her father called her so suddenly and told her to get a grip of herself.

A realization washed over her instantly. “… Did His Majesty ask about my marriage?”

This was the only reason why her father would mention Fredhi’s death after coming home from his meeting with the emperor. The duke nodded, avoiding Deatrice’s gray eyes staring at him.

“Yes. He said all is fine, but I have to hand you over. He wants you to marry one of his knights. The one he cares about.”

Her face paled at her father’s words. Marrying a knight was outright insulting for people with her status, but she knew she was not in the position to say no. It was happening all over again, her being sold away.

The emperor’s favorite knight is none other than Lucius Elliot. He made his name known after his heroic action during the war against Croft and from then on, he prided himself as the emperor’s most cherished knight. While Deatrice was alright with the idea of becoming someone’s second wife, even if it’s with someone who was way below her, she was not on board with the idea of marrying Lucius Elliot.

Anyone but him.

“Father… He’s…” The tremble in her voice was evident. She clasped her fingers together as she tried to calm her racing heart, her mouth parting and closing before she bit her lips, muttering, “You can’t do this to me.” She said in a defeated, terrified voice, “Father, you know what happened with Lucius. You were the one who ruined him and kicked him out, now you’re telling me I will marry him? How could you do this to me!”

“There was nothing I could do, Deatrice.”