Tale 8
Farewell Duke, Please Don't Ever Come Back!

"My name is Sabrina, nice to meet you!"

"I.. I'm L-luella.. P-please to meet you."

"I'm glad that I'm not alone anymore! Oh the struggles I've been through!" Sabrina said in a melodramatic way.

"You're exaggerating." Adelina

"I'm definitely not! Don't you know how much of a handful you are, Duchess? I can feel my hairline lessening everyday because of you!" Sabrina

Adelina simply chuckled.

Luella was amused to see their exchange, the two seems like good friends and not a subordinate and an employer.

Will she someday be able to be this close to the Duchess?

"Shall we have some tea at the garden?" Adelina proposes

The two readily agreed.

When the Duke heard that his wife is having tea at the garden, he immediately stuffed back the documents on the table and left his office in a hurry to join his wife.

The Duke will go to the battlefield in three months time so the Duchess will stay in the capital to send him off to war. The Duke is unsure how long he'll spend fighting in the battlefield so he wants to spend these three months with her.

"No." Adelina

"What do you mean no?" Niklaus

"I'm having tea with my friends. Why are you barging in? You'll spoil the fun." Adelina

"........." Niklaus was speechless.

Never in his life was he ever been declined this way.

Weren't everyone trying their best just to be able to have tea with him?

But now, his wife is sending him away... to drink tea with her Ladies-in-Waiting?

Have the world gone mad?

"Duchess, it's alright. Y-you should spend this precious afternoon with the Duke." Sabrina

"Y-yes Duchess. I-i-it's such a p-pleasant afternoon so y-you should enjoy it w-with the Duke." Luella added nervously.

Seeing the hopeful eyes of the Duke, Adelina could only heave a sigh and say, "Fine, you can join us."

"T-then we should l-leave." Luella

"What? Why would you leave? The Duke was the uninvited guest, no need to be shy around him. Stay and let's continue our conversation." Adelina stopped Sabrina and Luella from leaving.

Uninvited guest? The Duke?!

The two were speechless. They were afraid that the Duke would reprimand the Duchess' rude words.

But to their surprise, the Duke is still smiling brightly.

"Your tea already turned cold. Allow me to brew you another cup." Niklaus offered to his wife.

"Okay." Adelina shrugs

"T-the Duke will brew the tea?" Sabrina asked in shock

"Of course. He's not so useless that he can't even do something so simple, right?" Adelina

No, that's not the point Duchess.

Both Sabrina and Luella was shocked.

They have seen their mothers doing their best to serve their Dads. A woman's role in a marriage is to make their man happy. That's the teachings of this society.

So what is this?

What is this that they are seeing right now?

Why is the Duke the one brewing and serving the tea while the Duchess is just sitting prettily there as if it's the most natural thing in the world?

"Do you like it?" asked the Duke to his wife

"It's perfect. So you remembered that I like to add milk on my tea?" Adelina

"Of course." The Duke answered with a smile

"Since you brewed and serve the tea, then allow me to slice and serve the cake." Adelina

"Just sit down, I will take care of it."

"No, I can't let you do all the work. You're my husband and I'm your wife. We have to work together and share the workload okay?" Adelina insisted as she sliced the cake

Niklaus smiled, he's not wrong about her. He found his equal in her.

"Stop staring." Adelina complains as she serve the cake

"You're beautiful so I can't help it." Niklaus

Adelina cannot understand why she's suddenly feeling embarrass. It was just a simple compliment. Why is her blood rushing to her face? Arrgg!

Seeing her blush, the Duke smiled happily.

Meanwhile, both Sabrina and Luella awkwardly sip their tea. They watch with amazement as the Duke and the Duchess flirt with each other.

Their afternoon was spent as peacefully as that.

***

Adelina woke up in the middle of the night.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" the Duke apologized as he tucked away several loose strands of her hair behind her ears.

"Why are you here?" Adelina asked coldly

"I can't fall asleep because I miss you too much." The Duke answered honestly, he was seated at the edge of the bed, staring at her face.

"You miss me? So what?" Adelina is obviously unconcerned

"Can't we just sleep on the same room?" The Duke

"No." Adelina

"Why not? You're already my wife, and I'm your husband." Niklaus said pitifully

Adelina frown, "Acting cute won't help you. Get out of my room and don't ever climb on my bed. If you ever trespass again, you're dead." She warned

The Duke pouted, "Then I'll do my best to bring you to my room."

"Good luck with that." Adelina deadpanned

The Duke left with his shoulders down, clearly defeated.

Days passed by and the Duke kept on seducing her.

As if she'll fall for his tricks.

Haha, as if!

***

Adelina felt suffocated.

It's as if she's buried beneath a giant bear.

She groaned in annoyance.

Something heavy was wrapped around her like a snake.

She lazily opened her tired eyes.

The first thing she saw was a familiar handsome face.

It's the Duke.

His sleeping face is so pretty. It's as if he's a painting.

For some reason, her heart started to beat faster inside her chest.

What is this? Why is he here?

She clearly warned him not to trespass on her room.

This bastard just don't listen!

But now that she's seeing him this close, isn't he too beautiful?

His eyelashes were long, like a woman's. And because he grew up in the North, his skin is unusually paler than most people in the kingdom.

Adelina's palpitating heart is getting louder each passing second.

Afraid that the Duke might wake up and notice the loud drumming of her heart, she tried to move away. But his arms were wrapped tightly around her body.

Adelina fell in a dilemma

What should she do?

Ah, that's right!

She suddenly remembered that she have the Legacy of Strength so she used it to push away his arms.

She sat up, still drowsy and uncoordinated.

Nothing happened last night. Yep, nothing happened last night. She reassured herself as she chant in her head.

Her body felt uncomfortable all over.

She suddenly realized that both their bodies were only covered by the sheets of the bed.

Wtf.

She remembered that she was in a foul mood because her Milky Spread business is having a hard time in the market, so she invited her business rival who coincidentally is also her husband and ended up drinking some wine with the Duke, eventually the two of them started making out for some stupid reasons, then a total blank!

She can't remember what happened after that, but she started to doubt her self. Didn't she promised that she will never fall for his antics? Wtf is this? Did something really happened?!

She silently stood up from the bed and discovered that her hips hurt, her legs numb, her lips swollen. Her throat feel uncomfortable too. Not just that, even her abdomen hurts! She glared at Niklaus who's peacefully sleeping right now.

'If something really happened, I'm going to kill him.'

She covered her nakedness with the robe that she found lying innocently on the carpeted floor.

She realized that this is not her room.

It feels familiar despite the fact that she's never been here before.

Was it the decorations? Or the aura?

It reminds her of the Duke. So this is probably his room.

She chuckled in annoyance, to think that he actually succeeded in bringing her here.

She realized that she's having difficulty walking because of the immense pain all over her body.

What the fnck happened last night? How did she ended up in his grasps? Why can't she remember? Was she really drunk? If so, she have a bad feeling that she was the one who jumped him. And with all of her legacy, she probably forced him. Knowing him, he probably didnt even fight back and just enjoyed the moment. This freakin' wolf of a husband she have.

Suddenly, fragments of familiar images rose like an endless stream in her mind: two hands tightly interlocked together, by her ear broken gasps, soft cries, begging sobs, as well as a man's seductive low voice.

Adelina froze.

W-what are these images in her head? What are these?!

She started to panic, despite the pain all over her body, she ran in front of the mirror and loosen the robe. Upon seeing her reflection, her face paled like a ghost.

From her neck, shoulder, chest and abdomen, all were covered with red marks.

"It couldn't be right? I will really toss him into outer space if we did." She mumbled. Still in denial.

The bed she slept in last night was probably just infested with bed bugs.

Yep, that's the only explanation she could accept.

But there are several embarrassing bite marks all over too.

She tied up the robe and covered the evidence of what happened last night.

She started to question her life.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Why am I here?

What am I doing with my life?

"........."

She can't deny the truth any longer.

Last night...

...she was defiled.

That explains why her lower body felt strange.

"He's dead." She said darkly, she's already thinking of ways of how to dispose his body after breaking his neck..

Just then, a powerful arm wrapped itself around her waist. He embraced her from behind, as if it's the most natural thing to do.

"Why are you up so early? Is your body alright?" the Duke whispered worriedly on her ears.

She didn't even noticed when he approached her.

She flinch and immediately moved away.

"What's wrong?"

You still have the audacity to ask?!

She can feel her blood rushing to her head out of immense fury.

She was about to hit him when their eyes suddenly met.

It was like a trigger.

A trigger to her memory.

In her mind, the broken images from last night replayed like a movie. Two hands tightly interlocked together, the room filled with soft cries, begging sobs, as well as a man's seductive low voice.

It was the Duke's seductive low voice as he growl and groan on her ears.

She even remember her own voice calling his name desperately.

"........" Adelina was too shocked to even speak.

"Duchess, are you alright? Did you perhaps catch a cold?" The Duke asked worriedly upon seeing her pale face.

The Duke tried to reached out to check her forehead, but upon seeing those long and elegant fingers, another bolt of thunder struck her mind. Last night, those fingers slowly touched, entered and played with a part of her body that was extremely sensitive. Adelina's face suddenly grew hot, her breathing grew rapid, her heart raced.

She backed away in horror, but with her body aching all over, such movement made her stumble and lost her balance.

Before she fall, a powerful arm stretch out and caught her.

Adelina blinked, her face turning red like a tomato.

She can't breath.

"Are you alright?" Niklaus asked worriedly, Adelina embraced within his arms.

"N-no." Adelina responded with trembling voice

Her entire body felt battered. How is she okay? She's definitely NOT okay!

"Last night, we-"

Her eye's grew wide, she ignored the pain and moved like lightning to cover his mouth.

"Nothing happened last night." She said firmly

The Duke stared at her.

"Let's just forget about what happened." Adelina

Whatever happened between them must have been an accident. A mistake.

An unfamiliar emotion was suddenly reflected on the Duke's eyes. He look hurt.

Before Adelina could confirm if she's seeing things right, Nicklaus smiled to hide his true emotions.

The Duke removed her hand from his lips, "Are you trying to ran away from your responsibility?"

"...... what?" she asked in confusion

"You are probably carrying the heir of the dukedom inside you right now. Should we just pretend that nothing happened?" Niklaus asked seriously

"........." Adelina was at lost for words.

Heir to the Dukedom?

Seeing her reaction, the Duke added, "Besides that, you also took my first, you jumped me. I'm clearly the victim here." He said shamelessly.

"......." Adelina

Wait a minute. I lost my first too. Why are you acting like the victim? I jumped you? But wasn't it me who suffered? I'm in pain right now! I'm the actual victim!

"You must take responsibility." The Duke even demanded

Adelina was at a lost for words because of his shamelessness.

"But...."

"What are you still worrying about? I'm your husband and you're my wife. Isn't doing this only natural?" the Duke added casually, but for some reason she can sense desperation in his voice.

"Yes but-"

"You should reward me with a kiss because I worked hard to satisfy you last night." He even added.

What the heck should she say? Everything he said is true. They're already married. So this cannot be a mistake, right?

Besides, seeing him feigning his calmness but failing to hide his desperation, it feels like kicking a puppy who's desperate for attention.

"Fine, you win." She said in surrender

Hearing those words, the Duke smiled triumphantly, he suddenly pulled her closer, planting a kiss on her soft lips.

Adelina was caught off guard, she was licked, sucked and bitten until she melted in his arms.

And that's how the Duchess was caught in the Duke's trap.

Three months later, the Duke left for war.

Farewell Duke! Stay there and don't ever come back!

~~~~~~~~