The Duchesses

Chapter 23 : Are You Alright?

That's when she realised who was standing in front of her. It is Prince Ares James Angelos, Crown Prince of the Angelos Empire. To put it another way, Medea's fiance. How could she have forgotten about him? Natalie recalls meeting him once, briefly, on her way to meet her father at the Imperial Palace. Thus, the blonde woman immediately on her feet, bowing to the Imperial Highness.

"Please forgive me for failing to recognise Your Highness, the Crown Prince," she said later.

The Crown Prince laughs at the Duchess. The blonde still looks expressionless while greeting him. As if she sees a normal human being, not a Crown Prince. She looks different from the person he saw at the Imperial Palace months ago. Ares knows this is the new Duchess of Light from the Smith household. This woman is Medea's friend, to be exact, her best friend. But, he rarely sees her around the manor anymore.

Ares waves her off from apologising as he confuses her with what the Duchess might do in the Imperial Garden alone. But something is wrong in the Valimos household and with the Smith lately, which is why he follows the Duchess to the garden. He waits for his subordinates for more information regarding that. This new Duchess of Light might be helpful for him. He knows this woman is putting up a tough front for the people, but she is vulnerable on the inside.

Following that, the Duchess of Light abandons him whenever she sees an opportunity. She boards her carriage and travels to the household. As she is about to doze off from exhaustion, her carriage is hit off, causing her body to fly, hitting every part of the carriage inside. The blonde could only whimper as the excruciating pain spread throughout her body. Even lifting her finger would require a lot of energy.

A black figure in front of her, drawing a sword from upwards. Duchess Natalie accepts her fate to die as she cannot do anything, so she closes her eyes before waiting for it. She waits for the sword to come in contact with her body, but it never comes. Instead, Natalie hears a man grunt and opens her eyes to see blood pouring from his mouth. That is when she considers the Crown Prince coming to rescue her.

And that is also the starting point of their relationship.

"No!" Duchess Natalie suddenly wakes up from the bed.

It's all a dream. Or perhaps not. Natalie's memory must have come flooding back. That's when she recalls what happened in the carriage. She looks up, surprised by her surroundings. Isis, Daphne, and the others have vanished. This does not appear to be a noble family's home. Instead, it has a homey feel to it. The design is reminiscent of a commoner's home.

"Are you alright?" the question has been thrown a lot to Natalie since the dream.

The blonde is still drowsy from her sleep, giving her the appearance of being overwhelmed by everything. She is unfamiliar with the woman in front of her. On the other hand, the Duchess can tell that this is a commoner woman by how she dresses and behaves.

The woman notices this and says, "My name is Veronica. You and two other men have been unconscious for two days since the accident. We find you and the other lying around on the ground."

"Where are they right now? Show me," the Duchess suddenly cuts the woman's words.

"The men are at Winter's house. He has been tending on them--"

"Show me," the Duchess said before dragging the pink-haired woman out of the room.

The poor woman keeps asking Natalie if she's okay, but Natalie needs to find Princess Isis, Daphne, and the others. They eventually arrive at Winter's house. The house appears quiet, and neither woman can see the men. Duchess Smith instructs Veronica to seek assistance if anything goes wrong. Then, the blonde woman is tiptoeing around the house, looking for any noise.

She immediately alerts when grunting comes from one room. The Duchess of Light slowly walks into the room with light steps, looking around to find any weapon she could use. Then, she kicks the door, breaking the knob. One man suddenly lunges forward with his dagger, trying to stab the Duchess. Thankfully, she manages to dodge the surprise attack thanks to her training with Medea.

The blonde woman then confronts the man. The man strikes her twice in the ribs and face. Duchess Natalie begins to bleed once more on her wound. Not to mention that her body started to experience a piercing pain. For a second, she forgets she just had an accident two days ago. The man smiles at the blonde woman who has weakened. The man now lunges forward, pretending to go for her face, to land another fatal blow on her ribs.

Natalie is aware of his intent but reacts more slowly than he does. So the Duchess is now on her knee, struggling to balance herself. The man approaches her, eager to complete her as soon as possible. She's become a hassle for them to take care of. The man becomes smug by grabbing her golden lock when attempting to rouse her up from the drowsiness of the pain.

Duchess Smith notices a vase nearby and seizes the opportunity to strike his head with it. The man screams in wailing pain, and Natalie responds by kicking him in his jaw. The blow immediately knocked the man off his feet.

Then, she is limping, checking the room. Now, she sees a man putting a knife against another man's throat. That man must be Winter. The blonde can feel she is getting weaker, not having enough energy to face something like this.

"Get down!" the man attempted to press more against Winter's neck.

"You kill that man, you die. You release that man. You live. Choose wisely," Natalie talks calmly to the man.

She wants the man to be alive. He must live.

"No, I would rather die than believe a woman like you. You need me alive, do not you?" the man smirks as the knife keeps brushing against Winter's neck.

Natalie erupts in a burst of scornful laughter at his remarks. The man was perplexed by her behaviour because he expected her to beg him to release Winter. It goes against his expectations. Duchess Smith returns to her stoic state after she has finished laughing.

"Choose," Natalie speaks again in a toneless voice.

The man knows he does not have any choice right now. Either way, he is dead by Natalie or by the one who instructs him. Winter seizes the opportunity he was caught off guard by and flees from the man while the man is distracted, thinking anxiously about Natalie. The man now has no choice but to devise a means of escaping from this house. Winter approaches Natalie's side. They are both silently agreeing that they want to catch the man.

The man appears to have more abilities than either of them. But they are both more powerful than he is. Natalie takes a few punches and kicks from the man during the fight. She becomes frustrated and immediately employs Medea's training technique against him. As the man kicks Winter, Natalie uses the opportunity to dodge his punch and go behind him while holding the man's arm.

She kicks the man in the knees, knocking him down. As a result, she breaks the man's arm, and he screams in agony. Natalie then kicks his shoulder, causing him to fall. She doesn't waste any time as the man struggles to stand up again, taking one of the fight's pieces of wood and hitting the man's knees, paralysing his moves. The man is in the same condition as Natalie, and their blood is still dripping on the floor.

Natalie becomes irritated and approaches the man, punching him in the nose.

The man blacks out from the final blow as Natalie speaks, "I told you to choose."

After that, Winter approaches her and asks the same question that Veronica did earlier.

"Are you alright, my Lady?"

She remains silent as she tries to keep the pain at bay. The Duchess of Light then manages to say, "Tie up all the men right now. I want them to be alive," before her vision returns to black.