Chapter 2

Early in the morning around dawn when the light was beginning to seep in through the windows. Getting up from his bed Alex groaned as he felt a slight headache from being awake all night. Walking over to his wardrobe he grabbed a pair of dark black pants, a white button-down shirt and a vest. After getting dressed he washed his face in the sink and exited his room. Nodding to the guards he proceeded towards the back courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard he noticed two guards standing watch. Walking over he nodded his head at them and instructed them to make sure he wasn't disturbed.

Walking around the courtyard he glanced at the different types of flowers situated around the garden.

To his left were well-kempt bushes of peonies, to his right were tulips and roses.

Breathing in the scent of the flowers he sighed and continued walking through the garden until he reached a pond with a small waterfall flowing into it.

Next to the pond was a large sweet chestnut tree with the branches hanging down to form a cover under which would be shade when the sun came out.

Walking back into the house he eventually reached the library which upon entering one would feel they were in their own little world. Books lined the walls, shelves stood tall and proud carrying books of various topics, genres, and ages. Searching through the sections he eventually found a book on the history of the kingdom. Wiping the dust off the book, he returned to the garden and sat down under the tree by the pond. Leaning back against the tree and flipping open the book he began reading quietly.

Several hours later he was still reading while also pondering about the dream he had last night. He eventually came to the conclusion it was just a nightmare from being shoved into an unnatural circumstance and he was simply stressed.

While he came to this conclusion one of the guards approached him.

"My Lord, I know you said you did not want to be disturbed, however, I must inform you that Lady Alice has arrived." said the guard.

Noticing the sergeant emblem on the guard's soldier he asked.

"What's your name sergeant?"

"Frank, My Lord."

"Well, Frank, please tell Lady Alice that I will be with her shortly, in the meantime show her to her room and prepare the dining hall."

"Yes, My Lord."

Watching as Frank walked off to deliver his orders, he lowered his gaze and continued reading his book.

***

30 mins before the commotion, Alice was sitting in a large horse-drawn carriage

That was on its way to the private residence of her fiancee Alex Rath.

"What kind of person is he?" asked Alice.

"It is said that he is handsome and quite charming, My Lady," answered Agatha, her maid.

"That was not an answer," said Alice.

Agatha sighed,

"He is known to be arrogant and impulsive, he is also known to not be very talented at war or etiquette much to the duke's dismay," Agatha said with resignation.

"Then why am I being married to him?" she asked.

"My Lady you are being married to him in order to strengthen the ties between the duchys," Agatha said mechanically almost as if she was reading from a script.

Alice looked at her with a warning gaze to tell Agatha to tell her the real reason she was being married off to some pig-headed son of a duke.

Agatha sighed again in resignation, Agatha as Alice's personal maid was also her best friend since they were little girls. Being from nobility herself, although from a low ranking aristocrat family, she naturally heard the gossip between the nobles as to why Alice was being married off.

"From what I have heard, the rumors circling amongst the nobility is that the Toryn kingdom and the Royal Alliance have joined hands and are planning to invade our kingdom as well as the Levantine Empire. According to the rumors, this marriage is to tie the duchys together, if we happen to lose this war the fallout won't be as big as our assets and titles will be guaranteed given we make up two thirds of the kingdom." she said.

"Interesting, so do we know when they might attack?" Alice asked, contemplating this piece of information.

"For now they are just rumors, however it is expected that it will happen in the next week or so, hence why we have rushed the wedding."

"Huuu…" Alice sighed as she slumped against the seat of the carriage.

"Have we arrived?" she asked as the carriage came to a stop.

"One moment, let me check outside," Agatha said, adopting a formal tone as she stepped out of the carriage.

A moment later as Alice stepped out of the carriage a man in a butler's uniform came up to them and bowed.

"My Lady, my name is Graham. I am the Chief of Staff for the young master's personal residence. I am here to escort you to your accommodations while we wait for My Lord to meet us in the dining hall."

"Very well, lead on then." she said as she waved to her guards to follow..

Unbothered by her behavior Graham escorted Alice to her room, while the maid and knights were escorted to their accommodations.

After making sure she was settled in, Graham began escorting her to the dining hall.

"Where is his grace?" she asked as they walked down the hall.

Graham cringed slightly.

"My Lady, his grace is busy currently and will join you soon in the dining hall," he said.

Thinking about what he could be doing, Alice was led to the dining hall.

After sitting down and waiting for a few minutes a young man carrying a book was led into the hall.

***

Upon entering the dining hall Alex noticed a beautiful woman sitting down across from where he was supposed to sit

She had an imposing aura as if she commanded everything. with long flowing black hair and soft brown eyes. pale cheekbones and a fit figure, she was relatively tall. Wearing a fitting black dress, she sat there staring at him.

"My name is Alice," said the black-haired woman, as she stood up and curtsied.

Nodding to her, he waved his hand for her to sit down.

Just now as Alex sat down he realized he hadn't seen Marie all day, waving over Graham he asked him.

"Where's Marie?"

"She has been attending to matters for the wedding under the duke's orders, My Lord," he answered.

Nodding his head Alex watched as the food was brought in and set before him and Alice.

As they ate silently, Alice occasionally glanced at him.

Once they finished eating and the dishes were taken away, Alex waved over Graham.

"Prepare the lounge, and bring some wine."

"Yes, My Lord," he said.

A servant opened the door and proceeded to show them to the lounge, once they were seated, the wine was brought out.

The servants poured the wine and served cake while Alice glanced around the room. The room was decorated much like the rest of the manor.

Dark green walls lined with art and a couple of tall windows stood proud, providing a spectacular view of the garden.

When the servant was about to pour wine for Alex, he waved him off and asked him to get a glass of brandy.

Once they were settled down with their drinks Alex looked up at Alice as he took a sip of dark amber-colored brandy.

Noticing his gaze she stared back at him silently.

clearing his throat he said.

"I suppose since this is an arranged marriage we should get to know each other, as well as set some rules," he said.

Alice nodded at that.

"I promise to treat you with the politeness of a gentleman, I will not invade your personal space nor will I force you to do anything. In my opinion, you may do as you wish it is of no bother to me. However, although I will treat you politely I will not treat you with respect. My respect is earned." he said.

"That is all I have to say, if you have any other rules to add, mention them now before we retire for the evening," he said.

"That is most acceptable. However, I would like to ask that you allow me and my knights to train your guards, I mean no disrespect however as you know my duchy is famous for its long line of prestigious knights and I would like the security of my home to be of the utmost quality." Said Alice.

Nodding his head in acknowledgment Alex waved over a guard.

"Yes, My Lord?" the guard asked, bending down.

"Please instruct the guards to follow the instructions of Alice and her knights in regards to their morning training," he said.

The guard's eyes looked surprised as he couldn't imagine why Alex would allow Alice and her knights to train his guards, which was akin to trampling on his honor and saying his guards weren't good enough.

"Are you sure My Lord?" asked the guard, confused.

Alex's eyes narrowed at the guard's question and his eyes emitted a freezing feeling that made the guard shiver.

The guard realizing his mistake snapped off a hasty salute and ran off to inform the rest of the guards.

Meanwhile, Alex relaxed back in his seat letting his eyes wander around the room as he sipped on his brandy.

Truth be told the reason Alex let Alice do this was because he was too lazy to do it himself.

"Is that all?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.

"For now," she said, gazing at him intently as if trying to figure out what kind of person he was.

"Very well then let us retire for the night," Alex said as he downed the rest of the brandy and passed it off to a servant.

Waving to a servant to show her to her room they proceeded down the hall to their rooms bidding good night to each other.