THE MASKED BRIDE

As the young Duke Theodore Richard passed by, mothers kept urging him to get married to their daughters, since the news spread around that the duke was in search of a bride, the duke became the topic of the kingdom and the culprit behind the rumor was the scheming king who had nothing to do other than to ruin the life of his best friend The fact that he had just arrived at the party and yet mothers were telling him to spend the night with their daughters who had just finished learning what it take to run a home made him sick in his stomach because he still couldn't understand fully why he agreed to attend this party at the Baron's home since the baron was a man who wasn't in his good books. But since he was already at the party, a drink was needed to clear his head. As he poured the wine into a cup, he was interrupted by that annoyingly yet familiar voice "Duke Theodore it's nice to see you, I'm glad you honored my invitation" said Baron Philip Arthur …. "Baron" The Duke answered calmly while trying to figure out why the Baron who was on the verge of bankruptcy would throw such a massive party…. The Baron used be a very powerful and wealthy man till he married Clare his second wife and fell from Glory. The duke only attended the party because he needed leads on the case of the missing ladies which Philip told him he had leads on the case but from his behavior, the Duke could already tell that the Baron had lied to him and the Duke temper Flared up and in order to calm down so as not to create a scene, the Duke decided to step out of the hall and take a walk around …. While walking around he spotted a young woman hurrying up somewhere while wearing just a frail dress… sophia was only outside because she was trying to get food by sneaking into the kitchen as her Step mother totally forgot about giving her food that day, her movement was suddenly interrupted by the Duke's voice as he made his presence know to her, she stopped and tried to know if he had missed his way, the duke already knowing who she was because of the mask on her face… he recognized the mask because the young woman was Sophia the baron's oldest daughter from his previous marriage, the one who was rumored to be cursed Sophia asked him who he was and he told her that he is the Duke, she was stunned because she never expected to meet the Duke under such circumstances, she told him about the rumors she had heard regarding his marriage and the Duke told her that he wasn't interested in any of the young women around him and most especially he wasn't interested in her half sister Amelia…. When Sophia heard the Duke wasn't interested in the young woman around , she proposed marriage to him… the Duke was shocked but he told her any Lady who wants to get married to him should be ready to be in a loveless marriage but Sophia didn't mind because marriage as at that time wasn't built on love but as a means of gaining allies and Sophia wanted freedom from the prison she referred to as a home, a freedom only marriage into power could give her. The Duke was curious and attracted to Sophia because of her boldness…just when Sophia thought Theodore wasn't going to buy her idea of marriage, He invited her to his estate… Sophia told he that she had never left her Father's mansion because they've kept her hidden all her life but the Duke told her that him asking her to come over to his estate was a test of her boldness and that he would only finalize on the contract marriage if she visit him tomorrow… the duke walked away and Sophia kept thinking about how she was going to leave the mansion unnoticed while she hurried to the kitchen to get some food and water before she is being noticed again by someone else. While the Duke was trying to leave the party , he heard a female voice call his name and when he turned to look he saw Amelia walking toward him with her well combed blond hair and perfectly tailored blue gown matching the color of her eyes… Amelia blood boiled when she saw Theodore coming from the same direction where her half sister was. Amelia has always seen herself to be more beautiful than everyone of her peers because of her beautiful physical appearance and her expensive lifestyle.. she plans to get married to Theodore in order to remain in affluence but the Duke was in no way interested in her. Amelia glared at Sophia as a sign for her to run away as she talked with the Duke "I hope she hasn't offended you " said Amelia … "mmmmm maybe because I'm an only child but shouldn't you refer to her as your sister or by her name ?" As soon as Sophia saw her sister speaking with the Duke, she hurried inside wishing that Amelia hadn't showed up because she knew once Amelia told her mother that she saw Sophia talking to the Duke, all hell was going to break loose…Theodore saw Sophia running away and wondered what Sophia was so scared of_ While Amelia put on her deceitful mask of being a good sister so she won't arouse more suspicion from the Duke as she needed to get him to like her in other for her marriage plans to be successful. " I think we should spend some time together alone so I can show you I'll make a better wife than other Ladies" said Amelia while she walked beside the Duke … she saw no one else worthy of being her husband because of the power and affluence she would command if she eventually marries the Duke_