The Duke's Passion

Our mini tea party continued until it was time for them to go. I sent them off with Fabian. But before Lady Hazel enter her carriage, she faced me.

"Today's tea party is informative. I didn't regret coming in here." I smiled at her modesty. "Madam Roux, my father's banquet will be held in two weeks. I hope you can also attend."

"That will be my honor, my lady."

She smiled, pleased while nodding. "Then I will send you an official invitation. I am looking forward to your reply."

"Yes, my lady." 

We exchanged smiled before she hitched inside the carriage. I stood there for a while before turning around to face Fabian.

"Fabi, where is my son?" I asked, missing Law after a day of not being with him. 

"He is with Glory in the training grounds." 

"Oh? Until now?" my brow arched as I started walking inside, heading to the training grounds at the back part of the mansion. 

Fabian smiled. "The young master plans to become stronger. That's why he had been working on it."

"Gosh... my son... he is just six. He will strain his body," I muttered with a sigh, hastening my speed to reach the training grounds faster.

After Sam left for the capital, studying and training had occupied Law. Although he was maintaining good feedback from his tutor, his prolonged training was starting to worry me. Shortly, I arrived at the training grounds. I stopped when my eyes landed on my son, sitting on the ground while Glory was squatting down in front of him. 

Sam hired the latter after Law's birthday. That was his gift to Law — make this man his instructor. So far, Glory wasn't that bad as I thought. Well, he listens to Fabian for some reason.

"Look at him, Fabi." A deep sigh slipped past my lips, staring at my son. Dirt clung to his damped blouse because of sweats and his hair disheveled. Yet, I could see the determination in his eyes. 

"If only he can grow up overnight, he had done it already."

"The young master is just aware that Madam is sad about His Majesty's absence."  I pressed my lips into a thin line, keeping my eyes on Law. "I was trying not to make it obvious."

"The young master knows what lies behind the smile, Madam. Also, I am certain the young master also misses his father. This is the first time His Majesty went away. Back when the young master was still young, His Majesty will take the young master with him."

"Mhm. I heard." My smile remained. "Sam told me about it."

There was a moment of silence between us. I came here to tell Law it was time to rest and wash up, but it seemed he had some serious business with Glory. Honestly, until now, I hadn't figured out how my son's mind work. All he would show me was his child-like personality, but he was different from everybody else.

But that wasn't what worried me. I was more concerned about how he was too ambitious as a child. Like the other day, he was upset because he was too young. I had to coax him and he slept in my room. After that, Law had been sleeping in my room.

"Fabian, have you heard anything from the capital?" I asked after a brief silence, glancing at Fabian, who stood beside me. "Sam hadn't sent me a letter ever since he went to the capital. I'm certain by now, they already reached the Capital. I know he is surely busy, but I can't help but worry."

"I know Madam is worried, but everything will be fine," he reassured as he gazed at me. "Whether or not the Spade Kingdom attack the Empire, it was only a matter of time before Rufus and his troops will march to their land. His Majesty is not someone who would keep a threat for long, after all."

I stared at Fabian as he nodded slightly as if telling me this matter was already expected. Deep down, I was aware of that because Sam mentioned that he already stopped thinking of staying unbothered until he was provoked. 

"The only reason His Majesty didn't order to burn that place is that he had a lot of things at hand. The king of spade probably knew this, so he made his move before the emperor's soldiers surround their land," he added, peeling his eyes away from me and back to Glory and Law. 

"Will this ever end?" I wondered, setting my eyes towards Law. "At first, I found this new life... boring, honestly. But the more I live as Madam Roux, the more I appreciate the little things in life. I still find it boring — I know Sam, too. But I prefer this boring life compared to the life of a peasant or a royal or a Bloodfang."

I paused for a beat to breathe, pressing my lips while balling hands until I loosened my grip. "I may be asking for too much considering I wasn't doing the duty of the empress, but I think I can give up everything, Fabi. Status, wealth, everything, just to keep this family together and in peace."

"That is not too much, Your — Madam." I cast Fabian a look once again and smiled at his kind countenance. "It's rather... simple. A simple life, but alas, you weren't born to live life simply."

"Sadly, that is a fact." I rocked my head, already used to Fabian's straightforwardness. "I was born to either have it all or none at all. And yet, what I want is neither of those two."

Fabian chuckled in a low tone. "In the end, it seems Madam is, indeed, asking for too much." 

I couldn't help but laugh at Fabian's last remarks. After reanalyzing my wants, he finally realized I was actually asking for too much. 

"But if this called being greedy..." I whispered, smiling brightly when Law turned his head in my direction and a bright grin appeared on his face. Law immediately sprung up to his feet, sprinting towards me while I squatted down to welcome him.

"...Then I do not mind being the most greedy person in the world."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I made a mistake in uploading the sequence of the chapter. So, this CH 515 was uploaded inside volume 6 (as CH 513) and not 7 (as ch 515). To fix this, I had to remove the contents of each chapter and replace them manually since I don't have the function to arrange the sequence in another way. Unless I report this to allnovelfull but my CE (content editor) who can do that is away during weekends. So, the chaps sequence will be messed up until Monday. I don't want that.

The point of this note is, I had to add word count in here since the word count this chapter originally had had more (the last chap before this CH 514). 

DON'T WORRY.. you're not paying these extra words since the price of CH 514 and CH 515 was just switched. ^^ I hope you understand and thank you <3