Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 30

Celosia and Cassian spent the whole afternoon together, enjoying their peace that they knew wouldn't last long, and Edgar tried to find a way to bring his Ellie back. He was aware of her aversion to the Temple, though he had no idea what exactly transpired between them and Ellie, so he couldn't go there to ask for help in saving her from the Grand Duke's clutches. He was convinced that she was forced to stay with the man. There was no way his sweet lovely Ellie could have possibly wanted to stay with him, right? And she even said she was going to marry him! It was unthinkable. It had to be some sort of a cruel joke.

It took a few days for him to understand that it was not a joke, when he accidentally found out that the little Duke had indeed gotten engaged. What was surprising was that he announced his engagement to a woman named "Celosia Vasilios" and not Elena Heroux.

Did Ellie really reveal her true identity to him? How did he earn her trust to the point she told him about her past? Even Edgar learned about it after almost three months.

It hurt him to know that she trusted the Grand Duke more than she trusted him. At the same time, it also made him suspicious of their relationship. Perhaps he was right and they had met before while Elena was missing...

Perhaps it even had something to do with Ellie's animosity towards the Temple. It was widely known that the Grand Duke Vautour hated the Temple because of their attitude towards his late father and then him due to their distinctive black hair, which proved they didn't possess any magical abilities.

And what was a royal without magic? Nothing. Hence, the Temple saw the Vautours as less than the other members of the Imperial family and didn't hesitate to treat them as such, blatantly antagonizing them and openly showing their hostility towards them. They were shown less respect than they deserved, and it was time to change the way society viewed them. Celosia wouldn't stand for having her husband disrespected like that.

The two of them were oblivious to the disaster that was about to befall them, all because of a man who couldn't accept the reality.

They had other matters to discuss, so they went on a walk around the vast garden in the back of the estate. Cassian dismissed the servants that followed them around, asking them to prepare tea in the glass greenhouse for later. He wanted to have some alone time with his future wife, as they had quite a few things to talk about.

For example, their duties as a married couple. It was common for nobles to talk about the prospect of heirs before marriage. It was one of their responsibilities, especially when they entered a contractual marriage. Cassian was aware that even his own parents had a clause that regulated the number of nights they spent together. He found it out solely by an accident, when he found their own marriage contract. There were clauses there that shocked him to the core, including the one that spoke of sleeping together only "twice a month on the Duchess's most fertile days". It was astounding to Cassian that married couples would even think of putting restrictions on something so private.

That was why he didn't want to do the same with him and Celi. Perhaps, if he played his cards right, his marriage with Celi would end up better than his parents'. It had always been a sore spot for him when he thought of how unhappy his parents were together, and he swore to himself to never repeat their mistakes.

"Celi, I know we've discussed most of the issues regarding our marriage, but there are a few more things I'd like to talk about."

Celosia wasn't surprised and already had an idea what he wanted to speak about. "Are you talking about the matter of an heir?"

"That too, yes."

"What else is there?"

Cassian glanced around to see if there was anyone who could eavesdrop on them, then turned to Celi. "As you know, this marriage is a bit rushed. In order for it to be believable, I think it would be best if people around us didn't know it is a contractual relationship-"