Josh looked at my tense expression, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, knowing smirk.
“The scar on your palm… it’s from when I knocked over a bowl of medicine and cut you. So, that dream… it was real, wasn’t it?”
“Brother–in–law, instead of wasting time on fanciful dreams, perhaps you should consider how to be a good official and serve the people. Also, you should address my wife as Lady Kaelen.”
Kaelen had appeared behind me at some point, his arm wrapped securely around my waist, giving me a profound sense of safety.
Josh, a mere scholar, facing a battle–hardened general forged in blood and fire, had lost before he even began to speak.
04:50
Chapter 2
Josh, a mere scholar, facing a battle–hardened general forged in blood and fire, had lost before he even began to speak.
“The General’s lesson is well–taken. I was discourteous.”
Kaelen paid him no further attention, simply turning and leading me away.
Isabelle, even after being dragged inside, had not quieted down. She was now collapsed on the floor, sobbing.
“Father, won’t you help Josh secure a post in the capital? I want to stay here and be a dutiful daughter to you and Mother.”
My father, enraged, smashed his teacup on the floor. “Isabelle, learn to be content! Josh Atreides is the best you could hope for!” “No, Father! My sister and I are both your daughters, flesh of your flesh! Why are you so biased? If it were Eleonora asking you today, you would surely help her, wouldn’t you?”
“There is a difference between the legitimate and the illegitimate! How can you compare yourself to your sister? If you continue to be so ungrateful, you can get out of this house right now!”
The The Duke agreeing to let her marry Josh was the greatest mercy he could show her. He would do no more.
Josh stood to the side, humiliated, his hands clenched into tight fists. Only now did he realize how terribly, horribly wrong he had
been.
