บท 6: You will marry me
**In the midnight (Few Hours ago)**
Édouard was unable to sleep again. Rainard's words kept troubling him, and he got worried about Charlotte. The way Hayden talked with her was enough to play with her emotions. Since he was unable to sleep, he decided to go to the Palace of Beromont to check on Charlotte.
He got out of bed and changed into the formal clothes of a Duke. Since his palace was merely four hours from the Palace of Beromont, he would arrive there by early morning. He left a note on the table saying he would arrive in the late evening so that Charles and others would not worry about him.
He hopped on his horse, whom he named Tornado. Pulling the reins on it, Tornado started running. The gates were opened as the soldiers from the watchtower saw Édouard on the horse.
He never stepped foot in Beromont when Mathieu was alive. Charlotte might not like his presence because he didn't even attend his own brother's funeral. Édouard's only worry was Charlotte, who was surrounded by evil people. Moreover, he wanted to rule over two territories, thus strengthening himself as the future King.
His father, King Christian Bourdillon, was not a wise king at all. He used to work under the influence of his mistresses and the nobility. He didn't ever care about his Queen, about his people, or even his eldest son.
The only thing he wanted was his mistresses to be around him all the time. The current state of the kingdom was not too good and the national treasury was at stake too. Édouard, somehow managed to clear some portion of the debt. He expected his half-brothers to work with him, but they became like their father.
Negligence was in their blood and if it continued to go on, Escana might come under the rule of the neighboring kingdom, which was twice as strong as Escana. Fortunately, they had good terms with them, but the future was always unpredictable.
That was the main reason why Édouard had to work hard from the age of 12, after his father declared him the Duke of Wexnon when Édouard asked him to. He wanted to take his mother away with him to Wexnon, but her unexceptional love for the King didn't allow her to leave the King behind.
The four hours passed in deep contemplation while riding the horse. He entered the borders of the palace of Beromont.
He slowed down the Tornado and the guard came forward to check who could come at this hour. When he saw the Duke of Escana, he immediately ordered to open the gates of the palace. The chief guard rushed in to inform the servants about the arrival of Édouard.
Édouard looked at the palace in front of him as he entered the gates of Tornado.
"Never step here, Édouard. If you do, only bloodshed will happen." He recalled the words of his late brother, Mathieu. Today, he broke that pledge of not stepping in the palace and again pulled the reins on his horse to go ahead.
**Present time**
It was sharp at 6:30 a.m. Charlotte hadn't woken up from sleep. Her body temperature had reduced, though, after he gave her the pill.
"Your Royal Highness, these are the clean clothes for you," the chief guard, coming inside with a pair of clean clothes in his hands.
Édouard stood up and took the clothes from him. "Keep an eye on Charlotte," he instructed him, and went to the other room.
Édouard looked at himself in the mirror and dried his golden hair with the towel after he changed. He had decided to take Charlotte to Wexnon. The more she stayed in this palace alone, the more difficult things would get for her.
"I should have brought Rainard with me," he mumbled, and put the towel on the backrest of the leather chair. He returned to the chamber where Charlotte was.
To his surprise, she had woken up and was trying to sit up. Édouard rushed to her and stopped her from getting up.
"You need to rest," he softly said.
The chief guard silently left and closed the door behind him.
"What is Prince Édouard doing here? And why am I here?" Charlotte's expressions changed suddenly. She was dead. She had drowned herself in the water, then how could she be alive?
"I saved you," Édouard said as he settled on the mattress in front of her.
"Please leave," Charlotte told him. "Mathieu never wanted to see you in this palace. How could you enter here and disrespect him?" She questioned him. She was fuming with anger. "I would have been at peace if the Prince hadn't saved me!" She said this in a fit of rage.
Édouard understood her rage, but he didn't like that Charlotte was ready to end her life merely because Mathieu died. She didn't even have any idea why he died and recklessly put a halt to her life.
"There is no guarantee that you will see him in the afterlife. Such things do not exist, Charlotte. You better come to your senses," Édouard stated. "If you think that after you die, you will meet your husband and be happy with him, then you are wrong. You have this one life, so don't let it go to waste!" He didn't want to raise his voice at her, but this was the best way to make her understand.
After reading what he found in the note that Charlotte left before going to the lake, he felt upset. Charlotte's mind was affected badly by Mathieu's demise.
"I don't want to hear anything from Prince Édouard. He may leave," Charlotte said and averted her gaze from him.
"You are leaving with me to Wexnon," Édouard said.
Charlotte promptly looked at him and squinted her eyes. "I didn't agree to the marriage," she stated.
"Now, your decision will no longer matter to me. You will marry me, or else your family has to bear the consequences," Édouard affirmed with a serious tone.
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