The Duke's Daughter's Third Life

Chapter 63

Please support me on Patreon and Kofi!

The four headed back inside the auditorium, walking past the crowd of parents and students. They found Claud and their father just a short distance from the entrance and walked over.

Claud was the first one to notice his siblings and instantly his face lit up. He waved his hand over at them and happily spoke,

"All of you guys are here! Did you come over to see me?"

"Yeah and Dad!" Marius answered as he ran over to their father's side.

Cassian chuckled and ruffled Marius' hair in response. Claud stuck his tongue out at Marius before hearing Leon speak to him.

"I heard the performance went well, Claud."

He grinned and proudly patted himself on the chest, "Of course brother! I'm a prodigy on the violin!"

Aeliana raised an eyebrow at his conceited words but didn't comment on it. To be frank, Aeliana did somewhat agree that Claud was excellent with the violin and instruments in general but she didn't want to stroke his ego even more.

"We are leaving tomorrow morning, so shall we all have dinner together?" Cassian said in a relaxed tone.

All of them turned to him and nodded. Claud clasped his hands together as he excitedly spoke,

"Dad, there's this really good restaurant not too far from the academy! We should have dinner there!"

Everyone didn't object to his suggestion, so for dinner, the entire family headed to the restaurant Claud vouched was good. The dinner went well which made Claud incredibly smug as everyone agreed that the restaurant was good.

"Be safe on your way back to the Duchy," Leon spoke as he got off the carriage that arrived in front of the academy.

"Bye Alien! Don't miss us too much!" Marius snickered as he got off together with Darius behind him.

Darius rubbed the top of Aeliana's head before leaving the carriage. Claud pinched her cheeks making her glare in annoyance.

"See you during the holidays!"

The carriage headed back to the hotel they resided in and turned in early for the day. The next day, Aeliana and Cassian were preparing to set off back to the dukedom. As their baggage was being placed onto the carriage, Cassian walked over to Aeliana who was swaying side to side.

"Are you that sleepy?" Cassian asked, laughing at how sleepy she looked.

Aeliana mumbled something before yawning and rubbing her eyes. He smiled at his sleepy daughter and lifted her off the ground, bringing her inside the carriage, and wrapping a blanket around her.

After thirty minutes, Cassian entered the carriage and began the journey back home. Aeliana jolted up from the movement and looked around frantically.

"Daddy, we are using the same route as we came here, right?"

He nodded, pushing the window curtain back to show her, "Yes Eli. I heard from the hotel staff that the road has been blocked recently due to a landslide, so we are using the other route to head home."

"Okay." she sighed in relief before dosing back off to sleep while her father kept an eye on everything.

Aeliana snuggled deeper into the blanket, feeling at ease. She was at peace with the fact that she had successfully managed to save her father from his death. Her slumber continued onwards into the early evening when the horses' hooves became erratic, and loud shouts came from the outside.

The carriage rocked as the yelling grew louder. Aeliana was startled awake; her eyes shot open from the noise. She found herself alone in the carriage with the curtains closed shut.

As she pushed the curtains slightly apart, what she saw horrified her. Large-built figures with messy attire held large machetes and axes, striking down vigorously at the guards from her dukedom. Blood splattered everywhere, yet she couldn't tell from which side.

'Bandits!' her mind screamed.

Her vision blurred as she let out a gasp of horror, her brain not comprehending whatsoever that was flashing before her eyes.

Then her eyes made contact with a figure holding a bloody axe after slaughtering one of her father's men. A wide grin—almost like a Cheshire—bloomed across the man's face as he turned and began his way over to her.

Immediately, she withdrew the curtain and pushed herself further back into the carriage, her body trembling with fear as her ears began to ring. The carriage rattled with a large amount of force before the lock broke, pulling the carriage door open.

"Why hello there—" the man could not finish his sentence as Aeliana yelled and shot piercing fire bullets towards him, burning him alive.

As the man dropped dead with loud cries of pain, the other bandits' attention turned to her. She gulped and looked around, finding her father fighting together with the other guards.

She curled her fists tightly and held a resolute expression. She couldn't let her father die here!

With quick calculations in her head, she knew the number of spells she could work up was less than twenty if they were minor spells; however, if they were bigger spells, she could only conjure up around six to seven before she would collapse.

However, she had no time to waste or think further as bandits came rushing towards her, aiming for her neck. In less than a second, she cast offensive spells she had learnt from Henri, but it wasn't enough. One bandit slipped past her spells and aimed their machete towards her heart.

Aeliana froze on the spot, her reflexes not quick enough to dodge the incoming attack.

'I'm gonna die again...'

"Aeliana!!"

The sound of the machete pressing into flesh was loud and clear in her ear but she didn't feel any pain. Her eyes which fluttered close unconsciously soon opened, seeing a sturdy body standing before her, the machete blade pierced into the body instead of hers. As the blood dripped down the blade, she sucked in a shaky breath.

Aeliana fell to the ground from the shock. The bandit that aimed for her had their neck severed off. The headless body fell to the ground with a thud, blood flowing out from the neck hole.

"Aeliana...I'm glad I came just..in time..."

The figure that protected her slowly turned towards her. Blood leaked out of their lips as they spoke in a weak, hoarse voice before they finally dropped to the ground lifelessly. Her pupils shrunk and her face paled in horror as she shakily yelled whilst holding onto their body,

"Dad!!!"

---

Author's Note: (●'◡'●) see you next week !