The Duchesses

Chapter 6 : The Trap

"Take the Duchess to the palace dungeon!" the Crown Prince ordered.

He set himself in the acting mode, rushing towards the Crown Princess. First, he strokes her cheeks, trailing his finger over Hera's severe wounds, blood immediately wet in his fingers. Then, he cries over his fiancée's unfortunate incident, looking at Natalie with a burning hatred.

"Did those people born to be actors and actresses?" Aurora scoffs, looking at the sapphire eyes that glistened in tears.

Even Duchess Smith is at a loss for words. Everything moves at a breakneck speed. It's too complicated for her to understand. Despite this, she needs to track down "Duchess Medea" and ask her to restore the body switch. This is the only way Countess Hera can save her life.

On the other hand, Ares will learn of her plan. Once Ares develops doubts about Duchess Smith, it becomes more challenging to take any action. She seems to be in a bind; what should she do now?

'Hera will most likely learn of Duchess Medea's poisoning. So she'll switch their bodies as soon as possible.'

The Duchess of Light is lost in thought. As such, two Imperial Knights take her away from the scene. Suddenly, she noticed the 'Countess" face was white and damp with cold sweat. Duchess Smith is terrified by what happened and desperately wishes they could switch bodies. The Countess's body is slowly giving out under her, and the clock continues to tick. Losing Medea now would make it impossible to defeat Ares. Medea plays a pivotal role in making that happen. She is their only hope of returning to her world; losing her now would mean losing everything.

It's likely that Hera will awaken soon. She has to! The divine ability has to work now. The Crown Prince walks down the path with his bride-to-be and carries her to his tent. He smirks at her state since she is a good pawn for him to get rid of Natalie. With her divine ability, Hera will not regain consciousness for at least two days after being poisoned.

"Seize the Hunting Day for now! We must investigate this matter," Prince Ares orders his Imperial Knights to announce and spread the words to the participants.

He will torture the Duchess of Light during that time to tell the 'truth'. In reality, he plans to kill her and take over Smith's estate and power. In doing so, Imperial strength will be increased. Even though Duchess Smith is his most influential advocate, he finds her obsession with him to be both annoying and repulsive. In the eyes of the Crown Prince, no one is more important than Duchess Valimos. She is the perfect candidate to be the Empress, his Empress. He cannot get into it with Medea while Natalie is by his side. Which is why he has to get rid of her.

"Well, Duchess Natalie. Do you admit you were trying to kill my fiancée?" the Crown Prince asked, more like to threaten her, as soon as he arrived at the Palace'sPalace's dungeon.

Duchess Smith chuckles at the stupid obvious question.

"You know it better, Your Highness. With my capabilities, I wouldn't do a foolish thing like that to kill your fiancée. But, even more so, I wouldn't get my hands dirty on it, be in that place in the first place. I only have basic skills in swordsmanship. How could I defeat all the knights who trained for their whole life?" the Duchess looks at the Crown Prince tiredly after being tortured by the knights.

As of that time, the Duchess's only spittle was blood. Her only hope is that Hera will come too soon. Even so, a passing thought crossed Natalie's mind regarding her future. Will she return to her previous life as Aurora if she has a different death for her as Duchess Natalie?

"So you are not admitting your crime," he relies upon a wicked grin.

"Torture Natalie Wilson Smith until she confesses!" Ares orders the knights before leaving the scene.