The Duke's Reluctant Bride

Chapter 50: When Hope Finds a Place

The wind swept through the garden again, carrying a crisp chill that lifted the ends of Ruby's red cloak. She tightened her fingers around the hem and swallowed hard, her gaze dropping to the ground.

"I... I won't get executed for this, right?" she whispered, her voice barely holding together.

Moalang, perched on Lucien's shoulder, jerked his tiny stone head toward Lucien, then back to Ruby. He shook himself with sharp insistence, waving his little arms.

"Kooh."

A clear no.

Lucien didn't move.

"I would have done that already the moment you mentioned it," he said calmly, "back when we met in the Aetherwood."

Ruby blinked, startled by the blunt honesty. There was nothing cruel in his tone, only fact. Her breath slipped out in a long, shaky exhale as the tension eased from her shoulders.

"You are the only one who managed to find the rose that no one else has uncovered for centuries. You know how to find the hidden place Alysanne created, and I admit, my curiosity has grown because of that." His sharp sapphire eyes locked on her. "So I am asking you again. How much do you know about the Eldren Grove?"

Ruby's gaze fell, uncertainty flickering across her features. He hadn't raised his voice or threatened her, yet his calm tone left no room to dodge the question. He expected the truth.

Her lips parted before she finally found her voice.

"Four hundred years ago..." Ruby began, her fingers tightening around her cloak. "Lady Alysanne had a very close friend. His name was Mulzart, the King of Eldren."

She glanced up, then down again, nervous but trying to stay steady.

"I... I only know the story the way it has always been told, but... he died fighting the Dark Lords. He was brave, and he always talked about wanting the world to be peaceful." She swallowed, her voice softening. "So before he... before he died, he asked Lady Alysanne for one last favor."

Ruby drew a quiet breath, steadying herself.

"He told her that after the battle was over, he wanted her to make a grove for him. A special place."

Her voice trembled, but the memory was hers, not a retelling. "That's all I know, Your Grace."

Lucien's gaze narrowed, his expression tightening as a memory from his father's stories surfaced. Slowly, quietly, he began to believe that theory might have been real all along.

"How did you know all of this?" he asked.

Ruby shifted her weight, clutching her cloak. "Well, as you already know, Your Grace... I have Eldren blood." Her voice was small but earnest. "Sometimes I dream about things from before. Like they're pieces of someone else's life."

She lifted her eyes, checking to see if he was angry.

"And when I found the blue rose... I only found it because I studied a lot about it." Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. "I read every old book on my mother's shelves, and I asked questions whenever I could. I just wanted to understand why that flower kept showing up in my dreams."

She fidgeted with her fingers, then added softly, "One of the books I read had a riddle. No one had ever solved it before, but it mentioned a flower hidden where the Aether bends and listens. I thought it meant the Whispering Glade, the deepest part of Aetherwood."

Her eyes lifted for a moment, unsure. "When I went there... it took me a moment to realize there was an illusion spell there. I pushed through it, and the magic peeled away. That's how I found the rose. It was hiding under a barrier of magic. I only figured it out because of the riddle."