The Duke's Masked Wife



"Everyone wants honesty until it's towards them. Remember that I am the king so none of you can touch a hair on my head. I need to look over why I have so many violent friends. Hazel," Tobias walked over to his wife. "How are you doing?"

"I am doing fine, but I would love it if you would not talk about who you wanted to arrange your friends with. That is in the past and they've chosen great women on their own" said Hazel, preferring how it all worked out. If Tobias had not strayed from the women the court was trying to get him to marry when he was a prince, she would not be here. 

She didn't know much about the woman Rafael picked, but she loved Alessandra. Linda was doing just fine. Well, sort of. Her brothers and father were on their toes about her being courted by some man Hazel was yet to be introduced to. Heather was with Dominic. Their little circle had grown so quickly. Hazel wouldn't change a single thing.

"I do like the women they have picked, but my plans were ruined. Who out of our friend group is left without a woman? I can set them up," Tobias said, thinking of who had moved to find a wife. 

"Stop plotting on your friends to get them married. It is annoying," said Edgar. Tobias was as annoying as his mother in trying to get him to marry. Before he visited Desmond's home and met Alessandra, he had travelled out of town to get away from Tobias being a pain in the ass. Tobias married Hazel and then all of a sudden he thought everyone else needed to marry. 

If Alessandra wasn't already pregnant now, Edgar had a feeling Tobias would be in his ear telling him to have a child. Now that she was pregnant, Tobias kept bringing up a marriage. The only solution to these Tobias problems that Edgar could think of right now, was to kill the king. Sure the kingdom would panic, but for Edgar, there would be peace. 

"I have one more plot to do. I am waiting to see if I will have a little prince and Edgar will have a little girl so- Hey!" Tobias exclaimed when Edgar started walking towards him. "I am not making it an official engagement between the two even if it were to be a boy and a girl. I'm just throwing marriage out there. I'm sure Alessandra wouldn't mind our children getting married. Wouldn't you like your little princess to be an actual princess?"

"I joke about it to tease Edgar, but I am not someone who likes arranged marriages. I would prefer my children to fall in love on their own. Why are you so focused on my child? There are Eleanor, Heather, and Linda who will one day have children. Bother them instead," Alessandra said, going to where the food was placed and someone was standing to serve them. 

There was no way Tobias could convince Edgar to let their children marry each other and if Tobias made a royal order, Edgar might just kill him. It wasn't the fact that it was Tobias's child, it was the fact that palace life wasn't easy. 

'We need to worry when it comes time for our children to marry. They will be close and we can do nothing if any of them were to like each other,' Alessandra thought. She would not let Edgar get in the way if that were to ever happen. 'Maybe it is better that guns are not allowed to be used in the kingdom. I will have to hide Edgar's when it is time for our children to marry."

Eleanor raised her hand, "I am not having a child anytime soon so count me out."

She was not ready to be responsible for someone's life. It wasn't like she was out of her aunt's home or getting married to be thinking about children. Eleanor also wanted everyone to remember the fact that she and Reed were just getting to know each other after a month of her avoiding him.

"I bet my favorite earrings that Dominic and Heather will soon tell us about their engagement. You told me that he liked her when you were children," Hazel looked at Tobias.

"It's taken this long for him to tell her that he likes her, imagine how long it would take for them to get married," Tobias replied. He had little faith in Dominic. 

"Edgar, was it needed for you to flip my town upside down with news about Katrina? I had to come up with this festival idea quickly to make the town calm down. Where is she by the way? Dead?" Tobias inquired since it was Edgar. He had a special talent for making someone disappear. The guards were still looking for William's body.

"In my dungeon," Edgar smiled. 

"He's been spending too much time there. At this point, I will have him put a bed in there and kick him out of our bedroom," Alessandra said. She hoped Kate had already gone to court to do what she promised so they could get Katrina and the others out of their home.

"I spoke to the court this morning, and the conversation was all about you, Alessandra. What have you done to make your sister come out and reveal all your family secrets? I am shocked by what I was told, and it makes me hate your father much more. The court's been placed in a tricky situation," said Tobias.

They were already receiving hell over Simon's death; then people wanted to comfort Kate and Bella, now there was this news about Katrina, and Kate was coming out with stories about Alessandra. The former Barrett women were causing a ruckus.

"She did it," Alessandra muttered. Half of her expected Kate to make a run for it at some point and not tarnish her name any further to save her mother. As promised, she would have to release Katrina and let the court handle it from here. 

A weight was lifted off of Alessandra's shoulders now that everything would soon be out in the open. This was a long time coming for her life with her father to be revealed.

"What is this tricky situation?" Edgar asked, finding that to be more important than Kate's confession.

"Well, what they were looking at most was Alessandra's face. Not that any other abuse isn't important. From what Kate said, the servants used to avoid you, but it was she who bullied you. Like calling you names, killing your cat, stepping on your hand, and not having your food sent to your room. We've also heard about Katrina stopping the servants from sending your food to your room and a few instances when she struck you," Tobias answered.

"That doesn't sound like a tricky situation. It sounds like you have enough evidence from the culprit," Edgar said, waiting to hear what the issue was. He and Alessandra had done all the work for the court, so all they needed to do now was serve these people their punishments. 

"Normally, they would take Desmond, but he's already dead. Courtesy of Edgar. Katrina will be punished regardless of all that she did before she was a baroness. When it comes to Kate, not all of the court agrees with punishing her for what happened with Alessandra. That decision is going on right now. The argument is that Kate was young, and since she was a survivor of Simon, some of the men in the court think it will rile the town up if we punish her," Tobias revealed.

Men like Mark and Duncan were all for having Kate receive some sort of punishment along with her mother, but there were also an equal number of men who didn't want to deal with the town being angry. 

"So, there are men in the court who care more about looking good and pleasing the town than doing what is right," Alessandra commented, disheartened by the news. 

Alessandra already came to terms with Kate already receiving her punishment through her life as Marchioness and then with her mother's deeds spreading through the town, but what if she wasn't? What if she wanted Kate to be punished more, but then she had to be met with the decision that the men in the court wanted to look good for the town? So far, the court hasn't been helpful. It was no wonder Edgar did things on his own. 

"As King, I get a vote for what happens, but it isn't much to tip the decision in your favor. The court is more in charge of these matters. I am sorry," Tobias sincerely apologized. Though he was king, he could not just declare that Kate be punished. The court and the king needed to come to a decision together, and when they couldn't, there would be a vote. 

"You don't need to apologise. I'm sure you would do more if you could. Right now, I am more worried about Katrina than Kate, so as long as Katrina receives her punishment, I am fine," said Alessandra. "Don't let my problems ruin your day. We are here to celebrate the two of you," Alessandra added, wanting to move on from this since it had soured the mood. 

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