The Duke's Masked Wife

34 Fear (2)

“But I do not wish for you to find yourself in trouble because of me. That is not one of our conditions,” Alessandra touched his hand to stop him from taking the sword with him.

“Your father stood there while some man treated you like an animal and you wish for him to not be harmed? I would not be locked up for killing a Baron. I have my ways,” said Edgar.

“Thanks to your last name and connection to the crown, you won’t be locked up but the entire town will talk about you and call you a tyrant. I do not want that to happen. I am not saying I do not want him to die. I want you to do it quietly when there is no one to see it happening,” Alessandra caught sight of Katrina standing by the front door and James returning.

Katrina would cry a river about her husband’s innocence and never allow anyone to forget this moment.

There was also the issue with their engagement. Although Alessandra accepted Edgar’s proposal, her father was now claiming she was going to marry someone else. With there being no announcement nor ring on her finger, her father could send her anywhere he liked. There was no law to stop him as long as he wasn’t selling her to the red light district.

Edgar was certain Alessandra had not heard all the rumors surrounding him. He was already labeled a tyrant and killing a Baron wouldn’t make his reputation worse or better. Still, it was Alessandra’s choice when it came to her father’s life. “I will take care of it quietly.”

“The other man, you can get rid of. He is here to take me to his master to be added to a collection but my father told me it is another man I will wed. I don’t want to run into him again,” Alessandra was terrified of the man who came to pick her up.

“Do not leave this carriage unless I call your name,” Edgar instructed her then closed the door.

.....

“Edgar, I believe it would have been right for me to hear what you were talking about with my daughter. There is no need for you to get violent,” Desmond stepped back as Edgar started walking towards them with his sword dragging against the ground. “There was someone who asked for Alessandra’s hand before you did.”

“Who?” Edgar asked in a low tone. He was tempted to do as he pleased but his soon-to-be wife in the carriage would never forgive him if he did.

Edgar was trying to follow the lengthy lecture Alfred gave him. It was something along the lines of a happy wife, happy life.

“Who are you trying to send my woman to? Didn’t I make it quite clear the last time I was here? If a single strand of her hair was out of place, I would kill you. Silly me,” Edgar raised his sword to tap it against his head. Faint red lines formed where the sword grazed his skin. “My memories must be messed up.”

“C-Careful Edgar,” Desmond gulped. What sort of madman would tap their head with a sword?

“Well, are my memories messed up, Baron?”

“N-No but there was a man who came before you-”

“Who?” Edgar repeated the word much louder this time. “I saw you, Baron. Raising your hand like you wanted to slap her but now you cower before me. You are no man. I gave you such a simple fucking warning, yet you slapped me in my face.”

“Forgive me,” Desmond dropped to his knees. He clasped his hands together, begging Edgar to spare him this once. “I never intended to disrespect you.”

“You there,” Edgar pointed his sword at Rowan when he started to walk to the other parked carriage. “It would be rude for you to not introduce yourself.”

Rowan frowned, slightly annoyed he was brought into the Baron’s mess. The Baron had one simple job to send off Alessandra and now, the Duke was involved. He needed to leave before the Duke could question him about his master.

“Allow me to introduce myself, Duke Collins. There seems to be a misunderstanding,” Rowan walked up to Edgar with one hand out for the Duke to shake and another behind his back, hiding his dagger. “I am-”

Desmond covered his mouth, tears falling from his eyes as he watched Rowan’s head fall to the ground. He could not pinpoint when Edgar had swung his sword to execute Rowan. The only evidence was Rowan’s severed head and the rest of his body falling to the ground, staining it with blood.

“He should thank Alfred for it being quick and painless. He sent my sword to be sharpened this morning. Alfred might be able to see into the future. Don’t you think so Baron?” Edgar pointed his sword at the next person he wanted to decorate the floor with.

“I-I don’t know,” Desmond wept. He knew he would be next for what he did to Alessandra. He could not understand why Edgar was acting like a madman because of his daughter when they only spoke twice. Had he mistaken how quickly Edgar fell in love with his daughter?

“Get up, Baron. Get up and look at me the same way you were looking at Alessandra when she was pinned to the ground. Raise your hand to me!” Edgar yelled, frustrated with how much of a coward Desmond was but yet, he stood proud when his own flesh and blood was on the ground fighting against a man she did not know.

“Please spare me. Alessandra! Alessandra!” Desmond called to the carriage for his daughter. “My sweet child, please come out and tell him to spare him.”

“She has already asked me not to kill you right now. Alessandra, come out,” Edgar called to the carriage. She did not want her father to be killed when there were many eyes watching but that did not mean he could not be inflicted with some type of pain.

Edgar wanted her to stand by his side to watch it happen.

Alessandra opened the carriage door, revealing herself with the Duke’s coat still covering her head. Her eyes widened at the sight of the man’s head a few inches away from the rest of his body. ‘He truly killed him,’ she thought.

Though she told Edgar to kill the stranger, somehow, she didn’t expect he would. He listened to her words without any hesitation. What else could she ask him to do? It was scary of him to do this much when they were not even married yet.

Alessandra wondered what would happen to anyone who offended her when she officially became a Duchess.

Desmond felt like his life was saved when he saw Alessandra come out to stand next to Edgar. She was not cruel enough to have her own father be killed by the hands of a man she barely knew. “Alessandra, sweetheart. Tell the Duke this is all a big misunderstanding.”

“Sweetheart?” Alessandra repeated the one word that stood out to her. She could not remember the last time her father called her this. “You really are a coward, Baron.” She could no longer refer to him as her father.

“Alessandra, if we wed tonight, I will have a valid reason for killing your father,” said Edgar. He had many other reasons why he could kill the Baron but Alessandra did not need to learn how much more corrupted her father was. “I can make a wedding happen by the end of the night.”

“People will think I am pregnant and that is why the wedding was so fast,” Alessandra replied. People would rather believe that than the possibility of Edgar quickly falling in love with her.

“I can get you pregnant by the end of the night too,” Edgar had a solution to all her problems.

“You...” Alessandra did not push herself to argue with Edgar. He was only trying to help her end things with her father tonight. At some point, everyone would realize she was not pregnant and that was not the reason behind their flash marriage. “Let’s get married tonight,” she agreed.

Alessandra looked down at the mess she once called father. He was waiting to hear whether or not his life would be spared. Edgar was certain he wouldn’t get in trouble for killing a Baron so why was she prolonging this? She was curious to see the extent of Edgar’s power.

“Alessandra,” Desmond cried, waiting for her to tell the Duke to leave him be. “I give my consent for the Duke to marry you. He will just need to pay for your hand in marriage. Please save me, my child.”

Alessandra’s eyes water as she came to a conclusion that wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. Her eyes watered not because she would regret this but due to finally feeling like a weight was going to be lifted off of her shoulder.

“Kill him. Do it quickly so we can get married before the town guards are alerted,” she instructed Edgar then turned around to go back to his carriage.

“Alessandra,” Desmond muttered in disbelief. “Alessandra! Alessandra! Alessandra!”

Alessandra kept her head high as she listened to the Baron screaming her name until his voice became a faint whisper in the cold night air.

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