2 Throne and Love

Selah sat on the sofa, thinking about the new turn of events. First, she was inside a book, second, she would probably be dead the next few pages, and third, she would die as soon as the duke would know she was pregnant.

She had no opinion about dying as she would return to her world or die for real. The two options seemed the same to her. However, the child who would be killed with her was innocent.

Selah unknowingly touched her belly. Remembering that she was unfertile in real life, intensified her sorrow. She and Kahan tried having a baby many times but failed. Even the artificial insemination didn't succeed. She was devastated about having no children, but her husband supported her and told her to never think about it. She knew he adored children very much but never revealed his true emotions for fear of hurting hers.

They planned to adopt a little girl from the orphanage but when Kahan died, she never thought of it again. Her situation never allowed her to think of any other thing. She could barely stand on her own. When she started to live with her aunt, she began to help her to clean, cook and do chores which aided her a bit. 

Now to think of it, how is Melissa doing? I hope she finds a new loving parent.

Selah closed her eyes to ease the turmoil in her chest. She tried remembering the plot of the story to avoid thinking about Kahan. 

Throne and Love. The title of the novel she read the previous night before sleeping. The story was mainly about Prince Leonard, the second prince of the Sylvan Empire fighting for the throne against his big brother First Prince Lionheart and cousin Duke Alexei. And reuniting with his love at last. The male lead was described as a brave, fearless and dashing young man. He never lost a battle nor had a shortage of bullets. 

On the other hand, the first prince had a weak personality but because he was the queen's son, he was chosen to be the new king. Moreover, he had Alexei's support thus many nobles followed him. However, he was mainly Duke Alexei's puppet. 

As the thought drifted to her new husband, she shivered. The villain, who killed his wife with a smiling face, while she begged him not to do so. The Duchess Silvia was mentioned one or two times. She was a side character with no other purpose but to make the villain look bad. 

Selah shook her head. All the previous things were insignificant, what mattered now was her death, which would be the moment she would be pregnant because the duke suspected her betrayal. It was explained in the story that the Duke had a strange illness which made him unable to have children. It was a vague explanation, and the author revealed nothing about the strange illness, its cause and how he was infected. 

Selah sighed and thought of a way to prevent the duke from touching her these days as it would be sickening and to avoid getting pregnant. But since they were married, she couldn't prevent those things for so long, so the only thing she had to do was to escape. And before that, she had to find someone trustworthy to help her.

Selah got up and went to her bed, she lay looking at the white ceiling. Her expression was blank. She yawned, turning to the side. Looking at the blue sky from the opened window, she felt peacefulness and calmness in the air combined with the chirping of birds and the dancing of the trees with the soft wind caused her half-closed eyes to drift into sleep. 

"Duchess!"

Selah woke up at the voice of the maid, knocking on the door. She rubbed her eyes, stretched her sore body, and then stood up. 

The door was opened and Helena went in. "Duchess, the dinner is ready," she said. 

"I am not hungry," Selah denied as she didn't want to meet that man or anyone else, but her stomach had another say as it growled loudly. Selah felt her cheeks turn red from embarrassment as she looked away from the giggling maid.

"Duchess, you can't starve yourself because of your fight with the duke. You will get sick if you ignore your health," Helena said, trying to convince her.

'Fight? Why did I fight with someone I don't know?'

Selah frowned and then clutched her tummy. The truth to be said, she was famished. She stared at the maid and nodded.

'It is time to face my new situation instead of running.'

"I will fix your appearance," the maid declared upon hearing her confirmation and then jumped in her direction. "The duchess is beautiful. I am sure one day the duke will love you back—"

"Stop!" Selah turned to the maid who was fixing her hair. She frowned and said, "Say no other thing about him. Lead the way." 

The maid lowered her head and walked out like a wronged child. Selah shook her head and followed the maid. She had no patience to listen to her previous relationship with a scary man. It was obvious the man didn't love the duchess, but she was still throwing herself on him thus ending a miserable end.

As soon as she entered the dining room, Selah was in awe of how the place was clean and shiny. The long table had a large amount of food enough for ten people or more. 'How wasteful,' she thought, looking at the only one sitting on the head chair. Selah shuffled silently and sat on the third seat away from the duke, opened her napkin and started to eat the soup.

As a warm, flavorful liquid entered her hungry stomach, she hummed in satisfaction. She continued eating her food like a hungry beast that starved for months. Throughout her meal, she sensed a gaze pointed at her from the left side; the hand holding the spoon slowed down as she hardly gulped the soup. Her hands trembled a little, afraid of angering the villainous duke. 

"Is it that delicious?" a low mellowed voice penetrated her ears causing her to shiver a little.

She nodded and responded with a low yes, looking at him for a second before shifting her gaze away. She felt an immense fear of the man not far away from her. Her heartbeats rose a bit and her breath intensified. 

"Are you angry?" he asked, this time his voice was neutral.

"No," she answered, straightening her back and staring at his dark blue eyes. She didn't know him or have any feelings for him.

The duke glared at her for a minute before continuing to eat his food. Selah sighed and barely ate a few spoonfuls of soup as her anxiousness wiped the deliciousness of the food she was eating. 

Not long after, a man entered, walked to the duke and whispered something in his ear. The duke's expression turned grim, getting up and leaving the dining room. 

Selah released a long sigh of relief, which was buried within her lungs. She filled her stomach and walked back to her room. 

"Did you see what happened earlier?"

"The duchess must be angry with the duke again."

"The duke is such a heartless man. He had such a loving and cheerful wife but he is treating her like air. The Duchess is really pitiful; she had locked herself in the room for a whole day."

"She will be fine tomorrow. Things like this happened many times since their marriage. The duchess will regain her cheerfulness the next morning…"

Selah stood listening to the gossip between the maids. As she thought, the duchess was freaking obsessed with the duke whilst he kept ignoring her. She scoffed and turned in the opposite direction walking out straight to the garden. She sat on a bench looking at the dark sky designed with a few stars, remembering the same view when she rode the fiery wheel with Kahan. She refused because she had acrophobia1, but he reassured her he would never leave her hand and the scenery would be beautiful. 

Selah closed her eyes, lowered her head, and rubbed her arms as she felt cold, suddenly a warm coat was dropped on her shoulder.

'Kahan,' she thought, turning to him, but instead of his visage, the duke's face was in front of her. Selah stood up. The smile imprinted on her face a while ago vanished.

"Why are you outside?" he asked, frowning.

Selah's heart skipped a beat from dread. "I wanted to walk," she answered hesitantly. 

The duke glared at her, hummed and walked inside. "Aren't you coming?" he stopped midway, speaking to her.

Selah nodded and walked inside. She handed him the coat and said, "Thank you." She flew away to her room.

As soon as she entered the unfamiliar room, she dropped her body on the sofa. As she caught a whiff of the duke's scent on her body, her nose twitched. She got up, grabbed a random long nightdress and went directly into the bathroom.