"Payne!"
Essence looked around before lowering her voice:
"Are you conscious of what you are saying right now? That would mean going against the Church.
-I know what I said.
-This will lead us to war.
-I won countless wars."
Yureka who couldn't stop laughing rolled her eyes:
"Come on, let's not be too pessimistic shall we? I am sure that the Gods have more important things to care about than a wedding."
Seeing Payne's determination, Essence only sighed:
"Let's not talk about this here. You must be hungry. We prepared a feast for your return."
Payne shook his head:
"My fiancé should see a doctor first. Send him to the guest room."
I gladly followed Payne to my room but was surprised to see him take another path than I remembered. The first time around my room was a tiny and modest room close to the kitchens. I didn't understand that I was being disrespected at first because it looked like my room back at the Marquis' house. I soon realized however, hearing the maids whisper. In the long run I liked my room. It was far away from everyone and close to the food. I didn't want to go somewhere else.
Payne, however, was visibly not taking me to the kitchens and we were getting closer and closer to his own wing for some reason. I had never stepped inside his wing before but knew where it was. The first time I came here, Payne made me understand that stepping inside his wing would get me killed. Not that I wanted to go there. So what was going on now? He wasn't taking me to the guest wing that was for sure.
I started slowing down, wondering what was going on and Payne immediately noticed:
"Are you very sick?
-No! No."
Scared that he would carry me, I quickly picked up the pace. I could feel Payne's stare on my back and had to slow down again to pretend I didn't know where we were going. We stopped in front of a big dark purple and Payne pointed at the one next to it:
"This is the door to my room. You can come any time."
Having said that, he opened the door in front of us and waited for me to go in. A doctor and a maid were already waiting inside and I sat down on the bed. The doctor grabbed my hand and pressed down somewhere that made me grimace. Seeing my face tense up, Payne immediately pulled his sword out. The doctor immediately froze and he let go of my hand, sweat flowing down his face:
"What the hell are you doing?"
Payne looked at me:
"Are you okay?
-Yes it hurts but that's part of the consultation. Let the poor man go."
Payne did seem a bit ashamed and he immediately let go of the doctor. The latter needed long seconds to get his heartbeat back on track. When he grabbed my hand again, he was holding it as if I was made out of porcelain.
"Everything seems alright. I can give you some herbs to help with the nausea but you must feel better within a few hours."
The doctor gave me medicine and rushed away as fast as possible. If a knight didn't open the door for him, he would have probably run through it. I waited for Payne to leave but for some reason he just continued staring at me.
"Shouldn't you go now?"
Payne flinched:
"Aren't you hungry?
-No."
Being alone for the first time with Payne, I suddenly realized that I could talk to him about the wedding. In the past I insisted on getting married to him to please my family but now that I had gotten away from them, I didn't have any reason to marry this man anymore. I couldn't leave immediately because of fate but I didn't have to pretend either:
"I don't want to marry you."
Payne flinched again. He seemed very surprised and that made me angry. Did he think that I was in love with him or something?
"I only came because I was forced to. I don't want this wedding.
-Did I make a mistake?"
Yes. Numerous ones. But being the only one that remembered, I couldn't possibly get mad at him. In his memories, this was the first time we had met. He was acting weird but there was no way he remembered anything. Fate would have told me about it.
"No. I just don't like you."
Payne seemed way too sad for what it was. Who cared if a stranger didn't like him?
"I take your criticism into account."
I frowned:
"What does that mean?
-I will be better.
-That's not what I asked for. I have no desire to marry you."
Knowing about the Queen's orders, I added:
"We could just stay engaged for a bit and split on good terms once you find the person you wish to marry."
Rubia should have shown up a month from then. I could hold out until then. Rubia did turn out very different from what I imagined in the first life but maybe this time I could help her hide her true self better or at least for longer.
We suddenly heard a knock on the door and a knight said from outside:
"The Duchess is asking to talk to the Duke."
Payne frowned:
"I will meet her later.
-You should go now. Your grandma must have missed you. I am tired anyway. I will just sleep."
I didn't give time for Payne to answer and I laid down in bed. I turned my back to Payne and waited for him to just leave. After long seconds he finally whispered:
"Rest well."
I heard footsteps, a door opening and closing. Being finally left alone, I tried sleeping for a few minutes. I just didn't feel like doing anything. What could I do? Walk around the mansion that I had lived in for five months? Go spend time with Payne's family? Or go spend time with any of the people that worked here? Despite that, I wasn't tired enough to fall asleep and I opened my eyes again. Not feeling sick anymore, I could feel my stomach waking up. I wanted to avoid eating with Payne's family but decided that I could still drop by the kitchen and eat something fast.
Adaranth jumped on me as soon as I opened the door:
"Zeidan! Are you okay? I heard that you were resting so I didn't want to wake you up.
-I'm perfectly fine. I'm just hungry."
Adaranth smiled:
"Perfect. I heard that they prepared a feast for you."
I quickly shook my head:
"Let's just go to the kitchen and find something light to eat."
Adaranth agreed and just followed me to the kitchen. Seeing that I knew exactly where to go made Adaranth frown:
"How did you know which way was the kitchen?"
I shrugged:
"Would you believe me if I told you that I already came here?
-I would say that you must be very tired from the long journey."
I laughed and just continued leading the way. To reach the kitchen, we had to pass the dining room. I didn't think that they would still be there when I suddenly heard Payne's voice:
"I have to marry him as soon as possible."
Having a deep and strong voice, I could only hear his voice and had no idea what the other person was saying. I slowed down, listening. I thought that he would talk about the Queen's letter but what I heard next made me freeze:
"I fell in love with him at first sight."