Edmund opened his eyes, confused as to where he was; he was in a bed and to his sides, other men were in beds as well, in a room that he reconized as being one of the duchess mansion rooms. One maid passed in front of the bed and looked at him surprised and ran out, which was confused to him.

‘Well, that is a normal reaction.’ Edmund sigh..

Looking around and trying to adjust himself in a better position with the pillow on his back, he noticed that under the sheet he was actually naked and the thought of one of the maids cleaning his body made him look deep and concentrate in a red mark on the wall, but a feeling of regret pulled him back to reality and his shock quickly subsided.

‘I need to go back to work.’ He used the sheets to cover himself and tried to get out of the bed.

Ariadne entered the room and saw him trying to get out of bed instantly. The moment Edmund tried to get up, he came crashing down to the floor. He was surprised by this.

‘It was that bad?’ Edmund spoke to himself.

‘Peasant, what are you doing?’ Ariadne looked at him on the floor.

‘I’m just doing my daily exercises.' He looked up and smiled at her.

‘So you are just fine, hum?’ She pulled a fan from a pocket inside of her jacket.

‘It’s not like you would help me or something, ok.’ Edmund crawled his way back to his bed.

Seeing this, everyone in the room started to laugh; this made Edmund sigh as he positioned himself on the bed again. For a moment, he thought that he saw a smile on her face directed at him, but it vanished behind her fan.

‘Wait, why have any of you helped me get up?’ Edmund looked at the group standing to the left.

‘I’m sorry.’ Ethan, Leah, Alon, Alya, and Rita spoke in unison.

‘Ok… ‘ He rolled his eyes.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

‘Now you will have new clothes, Edmund.’ Alya spoke in an enthusiastic tone.

‘Isn’t that great?’ Leah smiled at him.

‘What is happening? Am I going to die?’ Edmund looked at them confused.

‘Now you will have a monthly allowance so that you can buy things; it’s a reward for what you did.’ Ariadne looked at him for a moment but looked away right after.

‘Seriously? That is so good. Thanks, Duchess; I’m going to forgive you for almost killing me.’ He smiled at her.

Ariadne closed her fan. came closer to Edmund with a serious expression on her face, the young man expressed confusion while looking at her. All of a sudden she grabbed him by the throat; in response, he held her arm and with his eyes widening, Edmund looked at the group.

‘Wh... are you, doi...? Hel... me...‘ Edmund tried to gasp for air.

‘How dare you? Forgiving me?’ She pulled him closer to her face, lifting him up from the bed.

‘Your highness, you are going to kill him.’ Eliza came running and held Ariadne’s arm.

‘It.. Ov… ‘ Edmund rolled his eyes as his vision blurred.

The duchess let go of him; his body crumbled to the ground. She took a deep breath and looked around her with a sad expression. It was quick and she didn’t care to notice the looks of everyone. The only thing Ariadne felt was instant shame from what had transpired.

‘I’m sorry; take care of him.’ She opened her fan again to cover her face and walked out.

Edmund passed out, and the mark of her hand was visible on his neck. Alon, Rita, Ethan, and Alya just stood there like nothing happened; they just shook their heads in disapproval and sighed. The soldiers on their beds looked at Edmund and looked to one another with an expression of disapproval.

Eliza put her hand on his neck, and as the bright light appeared, the redness started to fade, and a more calm and serene expression took over him. While outside of the room, Ariadne was looking out the window and saw some people coming, like days before, to see their loved ones.

‘Thank you for saving our son.’ An gray-haired coople saluted her but closed their eyes.

Ariadne instantly felt a warm coming from her heart; it calmed her and like a subconscious reflection, she gave them a smile, but right after that, Ariadne stepped closer to the coople.

‘It was nothing; be strong and everything is going to be fine.’ She gave the two a hug.

The two experienced a surge of happiness only compared to when Eliza said their son would be fine while looking at him breathing on the floor the first day they came to visit, tears poring from their eyes but their arms didn’t reciprocate the hug. At the end, when she stepped back while smiling, they just stood there admiring her smile for a moment.

‘Ho, what happened? Did I harm you two?’ Ariadne looked distressed.

‘No, these are tears of joy; I can’t explain.’ The gray-haired A-Dam man looked at the Chatzi female to his side.

‘Yes, I just feel so happy.’ The gray-haired Chatzi woman smiled at the duchess.

‘If you are okay, there is no problem; I feel happy for you two. Ask Eliza to take a look at you; say that I asked to.’ She spoke while opening the door of the room.

‘Thank you, your highness.’ They entered the room.

Ariadne returned to the window and to her side, more people came but before entering the room, all saluted her. She noticed not by looking but feeling that some were praying as they walked towards her.

‘I need to talk to the peasant about this; I don’t understand what is happening to me.’ She thought to herself.

If she concentrated enough, Ariadne could feel the same thing from a distance in the direction of the city; it was something that couldn’t be pin pointed, just the direction of it. Remembering the first time it happened that night when she was having a cup of tea, from that day on it only became stronger; now it feels so good that she is becoming inebriated from it; there was no time she didn’t feel good, unless when she interacted with Edmund.