2 - The Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell 2
Albert McMahon knew about a thousand names of flowers that bloomed in each season.
He also knew how to help the flowers he knew the names of grow well.
He worried about flowers getting sick or trees withering as if his family was ill, and pondered solutions.
Although she didn't particularly want to meet him, she definitely wanted to visit the garden he tended.
As the divorce process with the Barker family dragged on, Albert sent word that he might not be able to send letters anymore.
Then the news stopped altogether.
A relationship arranged by families. That was the extent of their relationship.
Alicia was twenty-five years old when the Reine family won the battle of pride.
One more season and she would be twenty-six.
Ominous rumors began to circulate near the Imperial City about the Reine family, which had fought against the influential families of the Imperial City and finally achieved what they wanted.
There were also many slanders against Alicia Lane.
It was not easy to find a marriage prospect.
Alicia turned twenty-five, and the Head of the family notified Alicia of another private meeting.
The Head of the family and Alicia only had a meal together about once every ten days.
Her father, who had never compromised his pride to anyone, apologized to his daughter.
"I'm sorry."
After a long silence, Alicia whispered almost inaudibly that it was okay.
The Head of the family told Alicia to marry Grand Duke Tessen.
The house was turned upside down.
Alicia had heard her father's apology, but she was just as dumbfounded.
Grand Duke Tessen was the son of the late Emperor.
He was the Emperor's half-brother, and before he was called Grand Duke Tessen, he was called the 5th Imperial Prince.
He was royalty.
Marriage with royalty after the succession disputes ended was a good match because there was no risk.
Alicia was 27 years old, and Grand Duke Tessen was 39 years old.
It was not common but not unheard of for a 27-year-old lady to be unmarried in this era.
Most married between the ages of 21 and 24, and a little later, they married at 25 or 26.
So 27 was not considered old.
But the Grand Duke was 39 years old.
Even though he was royalty, he was 12 years older than Alicia.
Marriages with a large age gap were not uncommon.
The problem was that Grand Duke Tessen was on his seventh marriage.
The Grand Duke was unusually late for his first marriage as royalty.
He had his first marriage at the age of 32.
Lauren of Graitz died on her way to Tessen.
The Baron family said that Lauren died after arriving in Tessen, and that the Grand Duke was responsible for her death.
The Imperial Family covered up the suspicions about Lauren's death with the authority of the Imperial Family.
The Imperial Family found a new marriage prospect for the Grand Duke less than three months after Lauren's funeral.
Grand Duke Tessen's second marriage lasted about two months.
But it is known that the Grand Duchess only saw the Grand Duke at the wedding ceremony.
The Grand Duke could not complete all the wedding procedures and left for the western border.
The Grand Duchess could not withstand the harsh environment of Tessen and left for her parents' home.
The Imperial Family pressured the Grand Duchess to fulfill her duties and ordered her to return to the territory.
The Grand Duchess wrote to the Grand Duke that she did not want to return to Tessen, and the Grand Duke replied that she should do as she wished.
It is known that the Grand Duchess was heartbroken by the Grand Duke's indifferent attitude.
For some reason, the Grand Duchess, who was staying at her parents' home, died in an accident.
The world whispered about the Grand Duke's successive bereavements.
The third and fourth marriages went similarly.
The Grand Duke's stay in the territory was very short, and the Grand Duchess alone guarded Tessen.
They tried to settle into their new homes, but eventually could not bear it and went to their parents' homes.
They lost their lives in an unfortunate accident while returning to Tessen under the strict orders of the Imperial Family, or in a sudden accident while defying the orders and holding out at their parents' homes.
However, in the fifth and sixth marriages, the other party had deceived the Grand Duke and the Imperial Family.
The last two marriage partners were ladies who were known to be weak or ill from birth.
When Tessen held the Grand Duchess's funeral for the sixth time, some suggested that the Grand Duke's marriage should be prohibited by national law.
The world called Tessen the land of death.
Grand Duke Tessen ruled the castle of death.
The Grand Duchess, who had made a marriage vow with the Grand Duke, passed away as if she had been cursed by death.
The Reine family's South Manor was as gloomy as if there had been a funeral.
Daisy, who was famous for being stingy with smiles and expressionless, blocked Alicia and advised her to reject the Head of the family's order.
Annie, who was seven months pregnant, hugged her swollen belly and cried.
The maids around Annie also expressed their emotions and wiped away tears, unlike usual.
Alicia herself did not react at all.
She only said it was okay in a voice that was barely audible, as usual.
In fact, Alicia was so dumbfounded that she could not fully accept what was happening.
She just swallowed the defeatist thought that this might be the ending that awaited her.
That night, Alicia fell into hell.
#2. Alicia Lane
[Benedict Era 350, January 1st]
The sky there was crimson.
The red sky, full of darkness, poured down scorching heat.
The dry, crumbly soil stirred up dust storms.
Black rocks were exposed through the cracks in the cracked ground.
Hot winds swirled in the stuffy atmosphere without a drop of water.
"...No, it's a lie..."
Alicia, who would never talk to herself normally, looked around and whispered, feeling the heat pressing down on her whole body.
Without anyone telling her, Alicia knew that this was hell.
Just a moment ago, she was looking at wedding gifts.
The Head of the family handed her the gifts that Grand Duke Tessen had sent to his new bride, along with the order to marry.
Alicia had no interest in the gifts that had been moved from the Head of the family's office to Alicia's room.
The great northern families had a lot of possessions and considerable power.
Within the family, the South Manor was an independent building, but even so, there were eyes watching everywhere.
So it was good to pretend to look at the gifts that her betrothed had sent to his bride.
Until she opened the gift box, Alicia really had no interest in the wedding gifts.
Even immediately after opening the gift box, her mind did not change.
A dazzling double tiara, a necklace with a large emerald, and a ring of the same design.
A set of yellow diamond earrings.
Bracelets and hair ornaments with elaborate craftsmanship.
They were luxurious but common gemstone jewelry.
Only one pendant, which looked heavy, looked different.
The pendant, with a strange mixture of black and gray, had an angel descending engraved on its surface, unlike its rough first impression.
When she opened what she thought was a pendant, a clock appeared that could read the sun, moon, day, hour, and minute.
Unlike the other jewels, the old-looking relic was a treasure of the Imperial Family.
She thought it probably was and was about to finish looking at the gifts and return to her bed.
She was getting up.
Soon after, it went dark.
Alicia floundered for a long time in an unfamiliar sense of falling.
In the moment of falling, it felt like she was falling endlessly downwards.
But from some point on, she felt like she was being blown somewhere without any sensation.
After a terrible collision pain, she finally came to her senses and was here.
Clack.
She found a dark, murky clock that had fallen out of her skirt and opened it, revealing an elaborate dial.
Benedict Era 350, January 1st.
Alicia read the clock hands on the black dial and muttered.
"I've been falling for four months?"
Alicia just sat there blankly at the series of absurd situations.
The long skirt of her dress was uncomfortable, and the sleeves of her dress, decorated with bright lace, were annoying, but she had no time to care.
Alicia, who had only been blinking, slowly turned her head to the side, feeling a chill down her back.
"Krrr..."
There was a black mass on the other side of the desolate and dry land with no cover.
The moment Alicia turned around, it revealed its red gums and black teeth, letting out a low sound.
Alicia froze like a stone at the sound of the fierce beast, as big as a foal.
Alicia Lane had lived her whole life as a lady of the Marquis family.
She had never even been near a creature of that size alone.
She just wished someone would help her, that it would suddenly disappear, and that all of this was a dream.
"What should I do..."
Alicia, who had fallen into a temporary state of suspended animation, quickly turned her head back to its original position.
Her mumbling voice was tinged with tears.
It was only a brief moment that Alicia turned her head back to its original direction.
"Woof!"
In that brief moment, hot breath reached the back of Alicia's neck.
She reflexively turned her gaze to follow the heat.
There was a large, black mouth wide open in front of her.
"...!"
The beast's large mouth swallowed Alicia.
Everything happened so quickly.
Alicia couldn't even scream and was dragged away.
She couldn't come to her senses from the hot pain and the fear of being swallowed and dragged away.
For the first time in her life, Alicia struggled and resisted with all her might.
But she couldn't handle a beast that was much bigger than her.
Her vision shook wildly every time the black beast shook the mouth that had bitten Alicia.
Pain and dizziness quickly alternated.
The large black beast took Alicia to a crack in the rock.
The beast dragged Alicia into a wide crack in the rock like a cave and swallowed her shoulder whole.
Crackle, flesh was bitten and torn away.
Alicia did not die in the midst of terrible fear and pain.
"Agh!"
So, for the first time in her life, she screamed until her throat was torn.
The black beast seemed to be wondering why Alicia was not falling, but it did not care and tore her apart.
"Aaaagh!"
Alicia cried and screamed.
The black beast surprisingly had an appearance that looked like a statue that had been left alive, just like its first impression of being like a black rock.
Stone debris fell to the ground every time it moved.
Surprisingly, behind it were nine cubs that looked like smaller versions of it.
The Stone Beast's cubs cried weakly, "Peep, peep," but she could not feel any cuteness.
"Aagh!"
Alicia screamed until her ears were ringing as she looked at the traces of flesh torn from her shoulder and ankle.
A terrible thing happened when the black Stone Beast was feeding its cubs the flesh it had torn from her.
Alicia's bitten wounds slowly returned to their original state little by little.
"What, what is that? How...!"
Even a thin cut from paper took at least 7 days, or up to 15 days, to heal completely.
But a handful of flesh that had been torn off by the beast was restored.
It did not heal back to its original state in an instant, but it was clearly getting better little by little every time she opened and closed her eyes.
Alicia screamed, then was bitten on the ankle again by the beast and fell down.
[Benedict Era 350, January 19th]
A young beast with black stone skin fell onto the rock.
"Keeing..."
A large club struck the head of the beast, which was making a faint sound, with a thud!
The small beast, which had already lost its fighting power, twitched and then died.
The club, covered in dirt, rose and fell.
