Don't Trust Her

"Mother how can you just let her marry that prince, his status is higher than ours?" a short petite blonde with grey-blue eyes, looked aggressively at the duchess.

"I'm thinking okay!" Mara snapped at the 13-year-old standing in front of her, for a child Clarissa had always been demanding and impatient. Six months early, she told her mother that she wanted to be the next head of the family and need Ellsie eliminated, as Mara had always deeply despised her and had been waiting for the day where she could get rid of her, it seemed her daughter had picked up on her intentions.

"What about the prince? Can we get him to join us?"

"I've already thought about this... I don't think we can trust him." Mara paced back and forth in Clarissa's bedroom. "I have to admit their engagement was not something I planned for."

While they both thought getting rid of Eric would be easy, sending him to the knighthood, he'd seen Mara slap Ellsie which made it harder for her to control him. The duke's only son hadn't spoken a word to their stepmother, since the prince's ball.

"We may not have to..." Mara grinned deveilished, the duchess was lost in thought, she'd almost completely forgotten about her.

~ ~ ~

As the moonlight lingered into the large office between the large cracks in the maroon curtains, a dark haired, blue-eyed prince sat quietly under the small magic lamp coming up with ideas on how to deal with the duchess.

Creak! Lucian looked up to the see a tall fat man with dark grey hair and thick beard, eyes ocean blue eyes looked at the prince with joy and gentleness.

"Father. What are you doing up this late?" Lucian stood up to greet the Emperor as he entered the room.

"I heard a rumour from the servants today," the man gave a suspicious smile to his son. "Apparently there was a young lady in your office all day... However no-one seemed to want to tell me who it was, believing the honour should be yours."

"Well I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you, but since you're here." The man sat in a chair and looked up at his son. Lucian who was sitting back behind his desk, didn't even look up to meet his father's gaze, he simply sighed nonchalantly "...I got engaged father."

"Oh congratulations," Demetri hugged his son, " I'm so happy for you, but who is she?"

"Lady Ellsie Rosewood." Lucian's writing hand paused for a moment, as he thought about the beautiful heiress, he didn't notice his father's expression turn dark.

"The daughter of Duke Jacob Rosewood?" He asked with full seriousness.

"Is there another Ellsie Rosewood?" Upon hearing his Lucian realised his father wasn't as thrilled as before. "Is there something wrong with that father?" Finally looking up from his work, Lucian's expression remained the same, cold and indifferent.

"Oh..." Demetri looked at his son, no he decided not to tell him just yet. "Oh no... just as long as you're not marrying for those stupid political reasons you keep going on about."

"No father, I'm marrying her for political reason." Of course there was a hidden meaning behind these words. For a second, his eyes flashed with sadness, as he mumbled, "there are certain things we all must protect."

He'd known for many years that his son loved the Rosewood girl, so he was not surprised by the who it was, although it was quite sudden. His son was not a spontaneous person, so why'd he propose so soon?

"Just... just watch out for that 'woman'." The old emperor's eyes darkened as he thought about Mara, he'd been friends with Jacob Rosewood since they were children, he remembers just how spiteful that witch was when Jacob fell in love with his first wife, Emily.

"Are you talking about Duchess Mara?" The blue-eyed prince wondered if his father knew about the duchess' intents.

"Yes, I've never had any solid proof, but I've known Mara for many years and I don't trust her. While Duchess Emily has been missing for more 12 years, it has never been confirmed what actually happened... I... I have a feeling that Mara isn't as entirely innocent as that fool Jacob would like to think." While Lucian had never seen his father get this angry about something he knew how close Emily and his father had been in their earlier years.

Emily and Demetri had been friends for many years through their families, they got along well, as a Demetri was an only child so he liked having her to talk to. While their families always hoped they'd fall in love, it never seemed to have happened. Demetri admits that he was very protective and cared deeply for Emily, it wasn't the same as the he'd loved Sarah (Lucian's mother) or Olivia, he insisted that he cared more for her as a little sister.

"Father... Mara..." he didn't know how to explain it. Could he really tell his father the truth about why he agreed to marry her first.

The man stood up and walked to the window behind Lucian's desk peering into the night through the cracked curtains. "She's after Ellsie's life, isn't she?"

"H... how'd you... how'd you know?" He stumbled in shock.

"Because my boy, you are anything but unpredictable." The man turned to smile at his youngest son. "Even if she loved you first, you never would have spontaneously proposed to her, before making sure she would be beneficial to the empire. No matter how much I begged you too." As he headed for the door. "The only thing I can think of that would make you spontaneously propose to the girl you love, is if her life depended on it."

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile in another corner of the Creston Empire, stood an old manor which once belonged to a banished noble family, the Silvers. The old house was almost falling apart, the carpets were moldy, the paint and wallpaper peeling down the walls, old family portraits ripped and stained with water, the house had been abandoned for almost 20 years.

However on this particular night, if you looked closely you could see a small light, glimmering in the distance of the back of the manor. In a room which was once a study, a woman in her early 20's laid peacefully on the couch, covered in a thick layer of dusty and spiderwebs. Her long chestnut hair was had become a nest for a family of arachnids, it was clear she'd been there for a while. Her slow breathing, suddenly became heavier, her bright hazel eyes abruptly opened and body jolted up.

"Lucian."