"I have a letter from The Duke of Grimsbane to the Marquis.
-No!"
I jumped up from my chair and all eyes turned to me:
"What has gotten into you today? You have been behaving very strangely since this morning."
The Marquis didn't really care about the answer. The entire table ignored my scream and focused back on the letter. The Marquis's frown immediately turned into a smile. A very evil smile. In my memories he didn't smile like that but I couldn't unsee it anymore. How could I be so blind?
"Duke Payne Grimsbane has sent a marriage proposal for Zeidan Gnash.
-Again?"
I started shaking my head:
"Not again...
-What do you mean again? Has the Duke of Grimsbane sent you a marriage proposal without us knowing?"
I quickly shook my head:
"No."
I didn't wait any longer and ran out of the dining room.
"Zeidan! Come back here!"
I didn't stop and continued running. I felt it the second I opened my eyes. Everything had been so weird that morning. One second I was dying and the next I was back in my childhood bedroom. I thought that it was just a very long nightmare but why was everything happening all over again? It couldn't be. Not again. I ran out of the mansion and continued running towards the portal. Just as I was about to pass it, I suddenly felt a force pulling me back. I got projected backwards so hard that I rolled on the ground.
I immediately jumped back on my feet, ready to try again. However I stopped when I noticed the faint silhouet.
"Zeidan, we made a deal. You have to marry the Duke.
-You! The deal is off! I already did marry him! Why am I back here? You promised that if I married him and died in the attack I would go to another world and live as the wealthiest and happiest person ever. Where is that world? Where is my money?"
The silhouet tried coming closer but I took a step back:
"Don't touch me!
-Calm down, Zeidan... I have no idea what happened either.
-Yeah, right! You know everything. How could you not know what's going on?
-I swear. Everything was going according to plan and suddenly we got sucked back into the past. I have no clue what could have gone wrong."
I frowned. It didn't seem like they were lying.
"What happened after my death?
-After the surprise attack, your family was executed by the Duke. Everything was going according to fate and I thought that everything would go back to normal. The Duke was supposed to punish everyone that tried to kill him and finally marry Rubia Latimer. I know that between him and Rubia, things didn't go as planned but I really thought that he would finally get back on track.
-And after everything that happened you were surprised that he didn't?
-Don't act like that. It's your fault that she turned out to be a villain."
I opened wide eyes:
"My fault? She was a snake from the beginning. You should have made a deal with her, not me.
-Let's just forget about Rubia. The Duke even killed her.
-What?
-I know that she behaved differently from how she was supposed to but I didn't think the story would change so much.
-What did you expect?
-I don't know... I just wanted everything to be the way it's supposed to. Maybe this is why we got a second chance at it.
-No. I see where this is going. I am not going back there again.
-Why not? It wasn't that bad.
-Wasn't that bad? Do you hear yourself? They treated me like garbage for five months!
-Is it better here?"
I froze.
"That was low of me.
-No, you're right."
I sighed and let myself fall back to the ground.
"I guess you won't accept making another deal."
The silhouet shook their head:
"I would if I could but I can't. You have to marry the Duke. If you don't, the Marquis won't have an opportunity to attack and Rubia won't find herself tangled up with the Duke either."
I sighed again.
"But I don't want to leave anymore. I made an amazing friend through this whole mess. Adaranth and I promised that we would escape together. I didn't fulfill my promise the first time but I don't want to lie to him again.
-I...
-The story wouldn't change. I would still marry the Duke and the Marquis would still attack. I could gather money and leave before the attack. We could even pretend that I died that day."
The silhouet thought about it for a second.
"Okay. That could work.
-Really?"
The silhouet smiled painfully:
"That's the least I could do after everything you went through because of me."
I started laughing:
"Is this your way of apologizing to me?"
The silhouet's face got fainter:
"We never apologize.
-Right. I forgot about that."
I sighed for the hundreds time:
"Okay. Let's do this I guess.
-Master!"
I never turned around so fast. Adaranth didn't even have time to understand what was going on that I was already in his arms.
"Ranti!
-Master? Are you okay?
-Call me Zeidan.
-What? I would never dare...
-Please. Just call me Zeidan."
Adaranth seemed puzzled but he didn't dare argue anymore.
"Zeidan... Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?"
I looked down at my pants and noticed that they got ripped at knees level.
"I'm okay.
-You are not! We should quickly disinfect your wound. What if it scars?"
Adaranth pulled me towards my room but we didn't have time to get there that my brother stopped us:
"Zeidan! There you are. We have been looking for you everywhere."
He grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the dining room.
Despite being terrified by Eoin, Adaranth still tried stepping up for me:
"Young Marquis, Mister Gnash should get his wounds treated before he goes anywhere."
Eoin glared behind him, having no idea where the sound dared coming from:
"Who are you?
-I... I'm Adaranth, your Grace. Please let me insist. My master should get himself treated first.
-Your Master is none other than the Marquis and he needs Zeidan right now.
-But..."
I shook my head:
"Don't worry, Ranti. I will be back soon.
-But...
-Just wait for me in my room.
-Yes..."