Bala: The Duke's Contract Wife

Regrets

"What do you mean?"

Gale told Johan what happened in the hallway. Johan frowned upon hearing the story.

"If I may speak, Your Grace," Gale said, "As I said in the hallway, you're in too much of a hurry."

Victor lifted his face, staring at Gale with a look as if asking the old man to continue his point.

"Now we know that the Duchess had a dark childhood. She almost never received affection from anyone but her mother. Such a thing made her reluctant to receive affection from others."

"I understand that Gale, more than anyone," Victor said.

"I understand. You also have a dark past."

Gale saw for himself how Victor's past was shrouded in darkness and solitude. Seeing that man could lead Maraina despite being mired in the Emperor's game was actually a miracle in itself. And Gale couldn't help but think that having Rose by Victor's side would ease Victor's path. Why not? If those two people could help each other, isn't that good?

"But, Your Grace, you were saved by the Emperor when you were twelve. Even though the Emperor always uses you for war, you... are surrounded by the people you trust. Like me, Johan, Adrian and your knights." Gale went on to explain, "That is not the case for the Duchess. She had just come out of a crocodile enclosure (it's an idiom: meaning out of danger, as in out of Rendre's claws) and when she got to Maraina, we have to admit we didn't truly give the best reception."

Victor's face shriveled with regret. He recalled how he first spoke to the girl, especially when he briefly threatened Rose before going on the expedition.

Come to think of it, when did Victor start to feel something for her? And what was that feeling, actually?

I don't know, for Victor, he just wanted for... Rose to stay by his side.

 "Wait, wait a minute..." Johan said, "Why are you talking like the Duke is in love with that girl, Gale?" Johan stared at Victor straight, his brown eyes asking for an explanation. "Have you fallen in love with her?"

Love?

Victor didn't immediately respond. To be honest, he didn't know what love was. His parents never loved each other, and they didn't love Victor very much either. The only reference he had to that abstract concept was to look at Gale and Merrida's relationship.

Confused, Victor stared at Gale instead. "Is what I feel is love?"

Of course, the two men who served as his vices became confused. They gawked at their leader. Victor felt the need to explain to them, "What I feel about Rose is different from Elise..."

Victor continued, "Elise was always afraid of me and when I had s*ex with her I honestly felt like raping her even though she had given me her consent. It felt so uncomfortable that I avoided it."

"Then you stop visiting her altogether," Johan added.

Victor nodded. His eyebrows furrowed deeper, feeling regret for his negligence which was one of the reasons for Elise's death. Yes... I ignored her so much that I didn't know what Gina was doing on my back. Poor Elise..."

The Maraina leader rubbed his forehead with two fingers. His chest felt heavy considering what had happened inside his own residence. It sucked to be a Duke that others could easily play with. By the Emperor, Gina, Lord Don.

Only when Rose came... Victor somehow felt safe. It was a strange feeling to have. The point is, every time he was with Rose, he felt like someone was looking after his back. And in return, he wanted to keep her safe as well.

"Let me guess," Gale said with a smirk, "Doing it with the Duchess must have felt so different, doesn't it?"

Victor couldn't lie. "She tastes sweet," he said quietly.

"What?" Gale pretended he couldn't hear his master. Victor certainly knew Gale was just acting, the guy threw a pen at Gale, which Gale easily caught.

"Honestly...," Johan hesitated to say, "... I thought the Duchess was just acting to earn the trust of the entire Maraina staff and you. I thought she was an Elysserian spy."

Johan glanced at Gale and Victor alternately. "But when the girl saved Gale and managed to silence the Emperor... logic alone, it is impossible for someone with such abilities to simply be an Elysserian spy."

Victor held Johan's gaze. Indeed from the beginning, Johan was the most skeptical of Rose. And Victor appreciated his opinion because the man himself felt he trusted Rose too quickly. There was something about that girl that made Victor just feel comfortable... perhaps because both had a dark past with their respective families. It felt like Victor had finally found someone who could understand why he grew up to be so complex.

Well... Maybe that feeling was not of love yet. But Victor wanted to make a connection with her. As someone who both had wounds and could complement each other.

Unfortunately, it looked like Rose still had her guards up, even to victor. There was still a thick wall around her heart.

"Pierre adores her," Victor said suddenly. "I met him when the Cornohen family visited Maraina. He's a good guy and I can see we could have a good relationship in the future."

"When I praised his actions for the people of Elysseria, the man instead spoke of Rose. I was confused at the time, but now I think Rose has a part in building Pierre's image."

Johan was not surprised when Victor asked, "Do you think the Duchess is the strategist behind Pierre's success?"

"But didn't Pierre openly say that his strategist was a man named Bala?"

Victor shrugged his shoulder. "No one ever knew what Bala looked like or how all of Pierre's crew members looked like. Only Pierre's face was publicly displayed."

Gale stroked his beard, his face seemed to think hard. "Could it be..."

"No matter what..." Victor took a cigarette from a small box on his desk. Then he turned on the lighter that had been manipulated with magic to cause fire when the lever was pulled. Within seconds, the man had billowed thick smoke into the air. "I've decided to keep Rose as my Duchess."

Johan raised his eyebrows. The man opened his mouth, about to voice his opinion but Victor had already said, "I would be lying if I don't want to keep her to myself. But this is also for the good of Maraina. You have seen for yourself how she could face the Emperor and of course, you have heard how she made the noble ladies realized their place under the Duchess."

"Also for Paul." Victor smokes tobacco and then exhales it again. "The boy seems to has been attached to Rose. I don't want him to lose another person." The look on his face showed remorse again.

"The death of Duchess Elise is not your fault, Your Grace," Gale said softly.

"No need to sow sugar in your words, Gale. Elise's fear of me was one of the reasons the woman shut herself up and ended up killing herself. I did kill her... mentally."

"It's not your fault the nickname 'Monster of Maraina' has been attached to you since the beginning. It's all the Emperor's fault for sending you to war from a young age. Just because the Emperor freed you, he felt he had the right to make you a war machine." Johan's tone was jarring. The brunette man was only a few years different from Victor and was by far one of the people Victor could say he was close to.

Victor laughed at Johan who announced his words with determination. 

"But here I am," said Victor, "Elise can't accept the 'Monster'. A lot of people can't. But Rose... The girl looked at me and acted like she had seen a real monster and that I was not at all like the monster she had ever seen. Does that make sense?"

Johan frowned while Gale nodded for a second before finally shaking.

"The point is, when I'm with her, I feel like a normal guy," Victor explained.

Then Johan and Gale burst into laughter.

"The thing is, while I've stated my intention to have a connection with the girl... It's like she's still keeping her distance from me. It's like there's a transparent wall between us." Victor sustained his face with one hand. While the other hand, he used to inhale the tobacco smoke.

"If it's from my obsevance, Your Grace," Gale said, "Like I have pointed before. The Duchess hasn't had any experience in... the term is, 'taken care of' by someone after the death of her mother. She's used to be by herself. You heard the conversation with Rositta yourself, didn't you?"

Victor nodded.

"Such a person will continue to put up a wall on her heart for fear that if they are caught off guard, they will be hurt again," Gale continued, "Be patient, Your Grace. You have to give her enough time and space for her to realize that not everyone in the world doesn't care about her."

Seeing the seriousness on Gale's face, Victor's frustration subsided a little. He exhaled a long breath. Then cursed himself. "You're right, Gale. I was too rash."

The man turned off his cigarette in an ashtray. He let the embers dimmed and the tobacco dust littered the little white ceramic.

Within a second, Victor's previously discolored gaze turned sharp. Cold and impenetrable. The ordinary gaze from the Maraina leader.

"Johan, get a list of all the children's illegal trafficking customers from Rositta. Coordinate with Ron to send scouts to those on the list."

Johan put one hand on his chest and bowed.

"Gale, I'd like to list the abduction area that was marked. Bring me also a list of names of the nobles, security leaders, and accountants who record the official expenses and receipts from those areas."

Gale followed Johan to bow to Victor.

"Oh, and Johan," called Victor. The man stood up and looked out of the window in his office. The sky darkened as the sun had begun to set on the horizon. Victor recalled the events of the day. Starting from Rose who avoided her, Rositta's interrogation, their activities in... the library, sniffing out the illegal trade of Count of Rozar. And during it all, Victor's mind had only been filled by one person.

Rose.

"Coordinate with Quay also to include spies in Count of Rozar's residence to guard Rositta as long as the girl runs errands from Rose."

Johan bowed for the second time.

Usually, his subordinates would be the first ones to leave the employer's office. But that day, Victor was the one who stepped out of the room before them.

"Where is he going in a hurry...?" asked Johan.

"Where else?" asked Gale in an amused tone, "Your Grace has unfinished business with the Duchess."

Without commenting on Gale's statement, Victor left the room. He didn't even look back.

"You saw what I saw too, right, Joh?" whispered Gale after the office door closed. Even though Victor wasn't in the room, the old man didn't want to risk his master hearing him.

"You mean his pants?"

Both men met each other with their gazes. They both saw for themselves how his master had worn the inside of his pants outside. Realizing they had noticed the same thing, the two laughed.

"I really hope... The Duchess is not a spy," Johan said sincerely.

"I believe her," Gale said, "But you're still the most skeptical out of all of us. That's why His Grace keeps us nearby. I'm the wise one and you're the skeptic."

Johan raised one eyebrow, he shrugged. "Wise, you say? You sure do have a big head."

While the two men were joking with each other, another man was walking steadily without realizing his pants were worn on the wrong side. In his mind, only one person came up.

Rose.

Hmm... Is this more like an obsession? he thought during the walk.