Married To A Savage Duke

The feud between the Blkanovs and the Viate royal family had been going on for hundreds of years. The first Blkanov was a war hero who made a decisive contribution to the rise of Lopern Kingdom into a huge empire and he was also a Balkan with wolf blood flowing through his veins. Emperor Viate, who had been jealous of him, secretly killed his descendants less than three hundred years after his founding, drove the Balkans beyond the barrier, and scorned them because of their wild lineage. The Emperor at that time succeeded in devouring the hero’s family in the dark by placing his illegitimate child in a position that the head of the Balkanovs should possess. However, the remaining blood of the Blkanov, which was the only one to survive the annihilation, continued with Cade five hundred years later. Like a trick of fate, he was adopted by the previous duke, a descendant of the illegitimate child from the royal family who inherited the Blkanov castle. That secret couldn’t have been revealed if it wasn’t for Cherryl, whom Cade had come across by chance in his previous life marred by tragedy. In the 859th year of the Empire’s reign, Cade, who destroyed all the previous dukes and royal family members living like parasites in the Blcanov family, corrected the fabricated history and recaptured everything he should have owned. However, he didn’t think that the intertwined bad blood between the Blkanov and the Viate would end well. Cade had a hunch that the only person in the royal family stepping into his estate today was none other than the princess. He stared down at the little raindrops hitting the smooth surface of the window. The drizzle that started as a mist fell into a torrential downpour. If the carriage’s traces were blurred by the pouring rain, it would be difficult for his close aides to find clues. It might be possible for a sudden visitor to congratulate them early in the morning, but it was probably wiser for them to enter the castle and obtain information as much as they could. Still, he didn’t want to draw Cherryl’s attention into this mess.

“…….”

Cade poured a light brown spirit into his empty glass, shook it, and slowly moistened his throat. According to reports, Cherryl’s wake-up time had always been different. It was noon at the spire, and early morning at the main castle, but these days, it had changed regularly too late in the morning. Then, she would often roll around in bed or fall asleep again without coming out of her bedroom. After being so late, it would take her about thirty minutes to finally get out. Perhaps, she had her own set of rules, but she had never strayed far from that. Also, today was the day he promised to go to the festival with her. There was a possibility that Cherryl would wake up a little earlier than usual due to her excitement or some other variable. Regardless of bedtime, she used to get up early on special occasions.

Considering that idea, Cade planned to hear from the princess as soon as possible and send her to a villa far away from the main castle so that she wouldn’t meet his future wife.

***

In front of a drawbridge far from the main castle, someone stopped a red carriage with embossed rims covered with glittering gold leaves from entering. Rosaline, whose carriage was stopped so close to the entrance, turned towards the window handle. When the window opened, raindrops hit Rosaline in the face.

“What’s going on?”

The Grand Duke’s old butler approached the open carriage window.

“Excuse me, Your Highness, but you have to walk from here. It’s the Grand Duke Blkanov’s order.”

Rosaline frowned at the sudden demand.

“Why is he suddenly telling me to get off my carriage and walk out of the blue?”

Her carriage only had to cross the drawbridge and the front yard so the order didn’t make any sense at all.

She wondered if the Grand Duke only allowed her to enter the main gate so that he could be rude later on.

“This is to prevent a situation where the carriage horses might burst into a loud neigh. Even well-trained warhorses are nervous and often behave unexpectedly once they set foot in here.”

The butler ended the conversation with a stealthy wink at the wolf barn located right in front of the drawbridge.

“It’s early in the morning. Does he not want me to make any noise before coming in?”

Rosaline wiped the raindrops on her face with her sleeve.

The old butler answered without hesitation. “His Highness is concerned that the lady might wake up from the visitor’s noise.”

“Lady?” Rosaline asked back, wondering. “Are you referring to Lady Milose?”

Rosaline smiled despondently as the butler nodded.

The wedding ceremony was just around the corner, but she was already being treated like a wife when she hadn’t yet officially married him.

Her title seemed a bit intrusive for Rosaline.

Now Cade was worried that Lady Milose would wake up from the noise.

“The Grand Duke?”

It sounded like he was trying to protect his beloved wife’s peaceful night’s sleep.

Rosaline knew that the Grand Duke and Cherryl didn’t know each other.