Rosie's Games

"The Duke is currently preoccupied with matters of the Kingdom."

Victoria lifted an eyebrow at the man whose pupils resembled blood. The man had been respectful nonetheless, but looking at his eyes had given her all sorts of emotions that she doesn't particularly like.

"Matters of the Kingdom," she uttered, clearly unsatisfied with the lie that the Duke had come up with to avoid seeing her. Victoria knew that the Duke must have heard about her. She is the current matriarch of the prestigious Lux Family, someone who should be respected everywhere.

She expected him to at least show himself to greet her. Honestly, what was she expecting from someone hailing from the North?

Those barbarians were only known for fighting the monsters. They are lacking in manners and etiquette.

The fact that she expected him to even acknowledge her presence was already a mistake.

"Yes, the Duke had traveled so far. He needed to work even when we were on the road." The man lied without even batting an eyelid.

"I see…" Victoria smiled. "Then I hope the Duke will have a comfortable time while traveling to the Aster Empire." The only reason she agreed to travel with them is that she wanted to see the Duke and use this opportunity to make Rosalind marry the man.

The rumors about Dorothy's failed Awakening had already spread, and this had displeased the crown. Clearly, she needed to find a way to attract more attention to Rosalind.

She thought that this would be the perfect opportunity for Rosalind to meet the Duke. She needed the Duke to know that Rosalind was also a member of the Lux Family. Of course, she is going to do her plan as discreetly as possible.

"Madam…" Grace bowed when she arrived inside her carriage. The luxurious carriage was large enough to fit six people, but she chose to travel inside the carriage alone.

At first, she thought of traveling with Rosalind in the same carriage to create a better impression, but this changed when Rosalind started crying all the time. How could someone cry out of nowhere? She started to wonder if this was all an act, but then she realized that Rosalind had been away since she was twelve.

It was only natural for her not to have basic manners and still act like a child.

"I already told Miss Rosalind about the Duke. I believe I scared her enough for her to be curious."

Victoria's lips lifted up. Rosalind was practically a child. She was almost certain that the Duke would make her curious and, just like a child, she would want to know about the things that are making her curious.

Her goal was pretty simple.

She wanted to make sure that she had warned Rosalind not to meet the Duke. She sent Grace, her most trusted servant, to warn her over and over, and yet… she still tried to pry more information about the Duke.

While this didn't sound too much, rumors can make or break a person inside the empire.

Rosalind was an unmarried young woman! Why would she inquire about an unmarried young Duke? Obviously, Victoria already sent some people to go to the capital ahead of them and spread the rumors in advance. She needed the crown to hear about Rosalind's interest in the Duke.

She needed to remind them that Rosalind still exists and if they wanted to send someone to Wugary Kingdom, then they must send Rosalind — the dirty speck of the Lux Family!

"Madam…"

"What is it?" she asked.

"I didn't mean to pry, but are you certain this would work? I — I heard the Duke is cruel and brute. What if he — what if he hurt Rosalind instead?"

"He wouldn't dare touch someone from the Lux household," Victoria assured her. Right now, only two people in the Lux household could use the Blessing of the light. The previous patriarch and the current one.

With these alone, no Empire or Kingdom would dare do something to them.

Grace started preparing tea for her.

"But — those heads— " Grace hesitated once again. "They are no longer in Wulgari. In Aster, showing the heads of your enemies is considered ominous. Perhaps— "

"Grace, that is none of our business. It is always better not to talk about things that do not concern us. It is safer that way." Victoria warned. She had heard insane stories about Wugarians in the past. It is said that they eat their enemies. Some rumors even stated that they only prefer to eat women and children.

They are taller and more agile than everyone else and supposedly, their strength came from mating with the monsters up north.

This made the people outside of the Wugary Kingdom fear them.

It is better not to provoke them unnecessarily.

"You should tell her more stories about the Wugarians," Victoria said.

"Madam, I fear that this might have the opposite effect on what you wanted. I believe that she isn't actually the child that we originally thought she would be."

Victoria snorted.

Who cares? Her only goal is just to show people that she was a good mother for warning Rosalind about the Duke. It wasn't her fault that rumors of Rosalind's curiosity about the man would soon spread just in time for their arrival in the capital!

What she didn't know was the fact that Rosalind had her own plans. Just when the dark arrived, she sneaked out of her tent. Her body might still be a bit weak, but she had her Blessing. Her light.

What people never understand about light and darkness is the fact that they are just two sides of the same coin. Darkness exists in the absence of light. In her past life, she had accidentally discovered the other side of light. Since then she had thought it was cursed.

She tried to hide it even from her very own sister. After all, everybody knows that there were only seven Blessings. How could someone possess another Blessing? How could someone possess both light and darkness at the same time?

But her death made her understand why she was given the other Blessing.

She wasn't supposed to just embrace the light.

Light and Dark. Yin and Yang. Good and Bad.

They are two complementary forces, co-existing with each other.

Slowly, she sneaked into the Duke's carriage as she wondered why there were no guards or anyone outside.

It didn't take too long for her to know why.

"You have come," a deep familiar voice welcomed her.

She looked up and froze when she realized that she was staring at the face of the man that she saved in the cave.