"I hate going in that household, they reek of corruption. We should not have healed their daughter, she is a threat to the empire."

An elbow hit her side.

With a distressed tone, "What?! They have always been in control of the empire for their entire generations, thank our god for they are daughters and not sons. We can just get rid of them."

"you do not sound like a worshipper from the temple. Talking about ending the life of a child just because they are born to a household you hate." the person beside her responded.

Trying to argue back, the other held his palm for them to get their attention and stop their nonsense. Fixing their robes they paid attention to the highest father whose eyes wandered to the distance of the land.

"Forgive us your highest father." they had their right hand on their chest, and the lack of space in the carriage made the two followers bow their heads.

The frail old man was in deep thought, their apology was not able to go through him.

When he was born-- long before he became what he is, he was nothing but a slave. One night when he slept hoping for a new day, he dreamt of a future that kept haunting him like a nightmare. Soon that nightmare only stayed in his dreams, and when he spoke of the said nightmare soon changed, and suddenly his nightmare became a promise of a future.

'You sent me here to heal that child-- hoping that an answer would appear if I saw her with my eyes and yet there was none. That girl was not special, not even a single ounce of magic was on her and You let her live...'

Thinking back to his recent dream, he could not help but wonder what plans their god has in store for their future. A child-- Josephine Lou Pinterio is already the promised future of the empire, but why does 'she' too get involved?

Closing his eyes and feeling the fading warmth of the sun, he let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his temples.

"No one must take an action towards the Hartpinjer, those who dare oppose my command will become an enemy to the temple, and punishments will fall unto them."

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Dropping the young lady's wrist gently to the side of the bed, the doctor turned to the vials on the desk. From following the paper that was given to them by the highest father, he thought it would take weeks but surprisingly the product medicine only took almost two days to finish.

The doctor sighed as he grabbed his book and wrote the state of the lady, a relief from previous pages that the progress was having great effects on her health.

"same as I have instructed, clean the sheets and the room early in the morning, the food as usual at the right time, her clothes must be changed daily, and if she is conscious let her drink the vials on the table. I'll return to my room, we will pick up what is left in the room tomorrow morning." closing his book, he carried it on his right arm as he left the room to finally lie to his bed and get back to the hours he lacked sleep.

the maids made a few arrangements on the lady's bed, making it comfortable for the patient, taking the blanket they covered the lady's body except her face to breathe. With some of them left, only one remaining maid left beside the lady.

There was no other light shining brightly than the moon that floats in the dark sky. The night is quiet in the Hartpinjer household only their restless minds, eyes are still wide open to protect the people that are dear to them.

One single candle lit was seen from the hall approaching the room where the lady lies. The knight was on alert, gripping the hilt of his sword, words were about to leave from the brave knight, but all were naught as an important figure was finally recognized. It was the duchess still in her dress this morning.

They shared a glance, and only silence greeted them both. The knight finally opened the door to reveal her grace's precious daughter.

The dozing maid stood up as soon she heard doors open, wiping the the saliva off her mouth, she bowed to the duchess and instantly went out of the room.

The duchess went to sit on the empty chair beside the bed. Sitting for a while, she could not bear to hold her emotions as tears fell across her cheeks.

With her sobs filling the silence of the night, she took her daughter's small hand. Gripping with her two hands, her grace hoped that she could share her life for her daughter to finally wake up.

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A loud commotion was heard before the door, that made the duchess sit upright-- startled by the noise.

"Who are you?!"

"let me through!"

There were no sounds of crossing swords-- what followed was a bang of the door being widely open.

Her grace gasped at the sight she had beheld.

A man in robes came in, with his bare face seen in the open. It was his grace-- the duke, her husband that wrote the letter from the previous night.

As the guards saw the unexpected reunion, they soon shut the door close. Deciding to leave the two lovers alone in the room.

The night's cold air soon was felt on her grace skin as she locked eyes on her husband's blue eyes.

"What are we doing? This is not us!" The duke heard the pain of her grace's voice.

"Were the Hartpinjers. Loyal, honest, and a distant house. Where are we supposed to hmm? We have gone mad!" As she uttered the word mad it reflected on both of their statures, shriveled hair and strange clothes.

Looking at the poor state his wife is in, he could not help but feel incompetent as she breaks down in front of him, that it was his fault for not trying to protect his family.

"Valerie look at me." Finally, the duke spoke. Still, it seemed her cries were louder than his.

Walking close to his wife, he grabbed both of her shoulders to straighten her form and make his presence known to her.

"Look at me, Val." She shook her head, not trying to face him as she wiped her snot off her nose.

"I said look at me!" he shouted, he felt guilty seeing how it made her grace jump, but it was the only way to make her listen.

With now green eyes staring back at his, he is still drawn into her. But he won't be swayed, he has to help her rise again.

Cupping her cheeks, he caressed her beautiful face as he wiped off her tears.

"We are enraged. This duty in our household is far too great. Too great that it is our blessing and a curse."

"We're not supposed to be like this, worrying for our children is naught, our purpose isn't this and you know it!" Her voice was still gentle, yet as she uttered the words they gripped inside his grace's heart.

"Ever since love has found us it has already driven us mad." The duke raised his sleeve-- wiping the non-stopping tears of the duchess, he was not able to bring a hanky today.

"It's what kills us both..."

Her brows arched as they tried to reach one another, From the duke's perspective he saw a puppy's eye looking at him, begging for a solution.

"--We are not the only one conspiring, they too are against us. We can't be weak, or else things will go south once they find out."

The duchess swatted his grace's hand off her face. Distancing herself from her husband, she ran her hands on her hair-- fixing her tidy hair as if it was the problem.

"We are plotting a conspiracy against the powerful! we're betraying the empire, what's more there is? we are being selfish... Once they found out-- our house is dead!" Placing both of her hands on her chest, she took a breath from the powerful tone she had made.

"We'll make our daughters powerful," with his dirty boots, the duke made her way to his daughter, "Francheska, From the letters you have sent me the sounds wonderful--"

His grace was cut short when the duchess blocked his path, only to meet a furious woman standing in front of him.

"DONT. Don't drag her into this, please she has faced the death's door!"

Closing his eyes, he took a breath as he tried to hold back everything he had endured in his life.

"She is born by our blood, and the fucking emperor don't like our eldest daughter Marinette to be betrothed to his boy, ungrateful bastard."

"No this is wrong, so wrong." Feeling the burden on her shoulders getting heavier, it felt like she could not bear it-- both her hands covered her face as she tried to hold her head high.

Their brows arched, as also lines on his forehead formed with distress. Never realizing he has his clenched fist on his sides, wanting to break the problem that keeps troubling his wife's thoughts.

Sadly the truth is that he is a Hartpinjer, just a man whose power depends on material things. He is unlike the emperor whose power is in his blood.

Huffing his chest, he let out a sigh hoping all of his worries would go with the wind and take them somewhere far away, but as he set his eyes on the woman he loved it just stayed there with them.

Now with his hands unclenched, he reaches towards his wife. Grabbing her shoulders he pulled them together into a hug.

"Listen, she-- our daughter Francheska will be taught everything and that is for our house and her survival. She has to live because she is our daughter-- our life and our love."

Hushing, the duke tightly embraced his duchess as he missed the days when they were free for a momentarily in their political life. A life with struggle would have no meaning if she wasn't there.

Using the sleeves of his grace's clothes he wiped the sorrow and fears on the duchess' cheeks dry.

"We are in the deep of the night, I know how tired you are from this, you have to sleep. Be more patient in a couple of days, I and Marinette will come home--"

"WHAT!? That's too soon! If it's about--"

"hush, I never doubted your capabilities. The negotiation went smoothly as the wind, thanks our god."

A breath left from the duchess. Fixing her stature and hair she stood next to her husband, she leaned forward to the duke, kissing him on the lips-- he too reciprocated the kiss. An expression of her grace's of the moment-- thankful that he came here miles away, happy that he shared his feelings to her, and that she fell in love again with him.

"I have to go, and you need a rest." the duke said in between kisses.

The Duchess is aware, and so she left a long peck on his lips.

"I will wait for your return."

The duke tightly grasped the duchess hand on his chest as he led the back of her hand to his lips-- sealing her words with a kiss that he would be back.

Walking to their separate ways, her grace insisted on seeing the duke on his way but persuaded the duchess back to her room and heed the advice of her husband to take a rest. The duke tucked his hood back as he headed to his horse and a few men into the night.

Indeed the night was dark, or perhaps the Hartpinjer was so into their emotions that they weren't able to notice the tears that left their daughter Francheska, that she finally had her consciousness back.