Love Amidst Wars

thirty-seven

"Your Grace, there's still no letter for you," Johnny said and lowered his gaze. It was raining cats and dogs with thunderstorms getting even louder and louder with time. Jake sighed as he kept his eyes fixed on the papers on his desk.

All the soldiers were staying in their tents, delaying the expedition due to unexpected weather. The Duke finally took off his glasses and looked at the soldier, "Any news? About the kingdom?"

"No. The kingdom seems to be under control."

"What about Juliette's wellbeing?"

"She is said to be fine and healthy, Your Grace."

"Good. Well done, Johnny," he dismissed the young man before continuing to read his documents. With that, he was left all alone again in his tent.

After a few minutes of forcing himself to work, he placed down the papers and held his chest, feeling a pang of uneasiness. He could not comprehend why he was feeling like that or what the reason was behind it.

Jake stood up from his seat and got out of the tent, watching as raindrops fell to the ground, creating puddles. As he stepped forward, he heard a clicking trigger behind him. He halted in his steps as he took a deep breath, "What do you want?"

Jay, who aimed his gun at the Duke's head, smirked, "What do you think?"

"You don't need to do this."

"I don't understand. I liked Juliette first, but somehow you can't see me together with her, you just had to win her. You just had to make this a competition between us."

"I've met her way earlier before you."

"But you were engaged to Clarissa. Why can't you stick with that? Isn't she the most perfect candidate for a Duchess? Just like you said before."

"That was before. We were never in love."

"And what makes you think you're suitable to court Juliette?" Jay said with gritted teeth, frowning out of anger and irritation.

Jake calmly turned around and stepped forward, letting the head of the gun touch his forehead, "Try shooting me. Let's see what the people have to say, finding out that the Prince killed his closest companion and the Duke who has been helping to protect the kingdom."

The Prince glowered, his hand began to tremble when holding the gun. Before he even got to speak, a commotion suddenly broke their quarrel. One of the soldiers' tents suddenly held fire. Soldiers were shouting and teaming up to erase the fire with whatever they had.

Jake widened his eyes and immediately sprinted to the tent, pulling out the remaining soldiers inside. Jay helped the other men putting out the fire anxiously, making sure no one was injured.

"Go! Go! Go!"

A group of foreign men started to ambush their site, shooting at the soldiers who did not notice their presence.

"It's an ambush!" Jay screamed and began shooting at the enemies.

Jake ran to search for Johnny before grabbing his collar, "I need you to listen to me. Something's not right. Get back to the kingdom and protect Juliette."

"But Your Grace–"

"Go! It's an order!"

Johnny saluted and ran away, saving himself from the ambush.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"You look spectacular, Mademoiselle," the modiste held a purple silk fabric against Juliette's body, letting her see herself in the mirror. Lady Jane watched their interaction at the back, sighing out of annoyance, "Smile a bit, Jules. So the Duke hasn't been responding to your letters. What's the big deal?"

"I keep sending him letters and he never replied to them. It's oddly weird, mother."

"Maybe it got lost in the mail?"

"Maybe," Juliette lowered her gaze as the modiste went to search for other fabrics.

"Don't worry, Jules. I'm sure the Duke is thinking of you as well. We'll just pray for his return and then–" Lady Jane's sentence immediately got interrupted by a loud explosion sound.

Everyone in the store screamed in shock at how loud the noise was and how the ground shook a bit. Juliette left the store curiously and widened her eyes upon the sight of the Northern Bridge being bombed.

"Jules, let's go!" Lady Jane grabbed her daughter's hand in panic. Juliette squinted her eyes and saw a group of men in foreign uniforms shooting the bridge with smiles on their faces, possibly cheering and drinking while enjoying their activity.

"Mother, the men are–"

"Let's go! It's dangerous!"

They both ran along with the crowd, heading back to the manor.