A Mistaken Letter

by Ari_Gateau

Summary:

When his dearest friend, the Empress Lithera Merto, writes a letter and offers to arrange a marriage for him, Pellus Termaine, the Grand Duke of the North, drafts a response impulsively asking for her hand in marriage instead.

Wait a minute, that's ridiculous, he realizes.

Pellus is about to discard that draft, but with one interruption after another, an exhausted Duke Termaine accidentally sends the letter instead.

And then realizes what he did the next morning.

NOTE: Takes place during Lithera's second life where she is still the Empress. Spoilers for Chapter 54!

Chapter 1: The Mistake

“What if...it is your hand I ask for?”  

Pellus sat back, staring at the words as if they were written by a maniac. A cheeky maniac. A brazen maniac. A maniac who was very clearly overstepping his bounds.  

I already thought I blew it earlier. I don’t want to risk losing her now...  

The duke was about to crumple up that page when: 

“Grand Duke! There’s been a monster attack near the northern perimeter!” 

“WHAT?!?! How could they have—” But there was no time for questions. As much as he hated interrupting a letter-writing session to his dear Empress, it would have to wait. Snatching up his cloak and sword, he swiftly made his way out of the castle... 

Hours later, the Grand Duke returned to the castle, monsters slain and sword wiped clean of their odious blood. When he re-entered the castle, however, the duke decided to bathe before returning to his letter. It wouldn’t do to write a letter to his beloved Empress if he might accidentally defile it by getting the tiniest smidgen of blood or sweat on it.  

Sadly, the letter had to be delayed even further. After he bathed, the knights alerted the duke that one of the slain monsters had a jewel the size of a boulder inside of it. That had to be dealt with. Then came the report about the extensive damage done to the northern perimeter. Then came ordering new building materials and patching up the wall. And on and on until it was well past midnight when Pellus finally had time to return to the letter.  

At that point, the duke was so exhausted that when he saw how he had written four full pages already, he assumed he had written everything he wanted to say. Worn out, he signed his name, sealed the letter, and sent it through the magic channels to the Empress. 

Afterwards, Pellus changed into his sleeping robe and collapsed into bed. That’s when he had an odd dream of the Empress setting up an arranged marriage for him, only for him to state that she was the only one he wanted to marry. The Empress giggled. “Ah, my dear Duke, what would you have done if I had said yes?”  

“Why, my dear Empress, I would have done this.” He swept his cloak behind him and knelt before her. Then, taking her left hand, he lifted a roll of parchment to her fingers.  

Parchment? This wasn’t the ring he had envisioned giving her.

The duke unrolled the parchment and began reading it out loud. It wasn’t until he got to the bottom of the page that he read the damning question: “What if...it is your hand I ask for?” 

Pellus shot upright in bed, the movement so sudden that the bed buckled under the gesture. 

Had he really sent that?! No...no, he hadn’t...right?  

Untangling himself from the sheets, Pellus rushed to his office and began rifling through the discarded drafts he had thrown into the waste bin. Surely, it must be here! After uncrumpling every piece of paper and reading it over twice, the Grand Duke fell to his knees as the horrible truth descended upon him. He had sent that letter. The one with the question about marriage.  

No, no, no, this can’t be! he thought frantically. I must...I must get it back!  

Hastening to his feet, Pellus looked around for the time. It was 4 am. Letters sent by magic arrived almost instantaneously, but since he sent his letter so late last night, it was unlikely that it had been delivered to Her Majesty just yet. 

If only he could get down there quickly. His mind ran through all of the possibilities. Horses were out of the question. Even the speed and strength of his best carnivorse wouldn’t do. That only left one option... 

Pellus looted his desk, almost tearing it apart in search of something he had been given a long time ago, but never had any use for... 

Aha! There it was!  

The Grand Duke pulled out a box from the lowest drawer. Opening it, he dug through the various colorful artifacts in there until he found what he wanted. Lifting a pale oblong gem to the moonlight streaming through the windows, he found that although the artifact was old, it still had enough power in it for what he wanted.  He glanced at the clock again; he could afford no more lost time.  

Pellus strode out of the room and marched over to one of the emergency bells they had in the castle. Normally, this was used to alert the castle staff of danger like a monster attack or a siege, but to Pellus, this was emergency enough.  

He snatched up the rope of the bell and with utmost care, rang it carefully. (He had broken the last several bells by ringing them too hard and this was no time to break another one).  

In four minutes, the majority of the castle staff was awake and assembled before him in the Great Hall. Most were only partially dressed and still in the early stages of waking, but they all knew an emergency when it was called. Several of them were already putting on armor or reaching for weapons when the duke told them there was no need for that.  

They all paused. No need for weapons?

“Your attention, please,” Pellus barked. “I need a volunteer.”  

Once Pellus explained that he needed someone to teleport to the Imperial Castle and retrieve a mistaken letter before the Empress read it, his staff only looked at each other, a mischievous glint in their eye. Suddenly, every single of one them had terribly important things they had to do that day that could not be put off. Even when the duke offered a full month’s worth of wages, no one budged. Not even Nicky.  

Pellus was about to order someone to go when Jurgen stepped forward. 

“Since Your Grace seems to be the one who understands the importance of retrieving this letter, wouldn’t it make more sense to fetch it yourself?” 

“I can’t ,” the duke wailed. “Someone there is bound to recognize me and for the sake of the Empress, I refuse to sow any seeds of political strife by showing my face there. Not only that, but we are wasting precious time arguing this. Will no one go?” 

Nicky stepped forward this time. “My Lord, if showing your face is a concern, why not use a disguise? We have artifacts for magical disguises if you are worried about a physical one accidentally coming away.”  

“I —” Then he stopped. Wait, why not? Since all of his servants seemed so hellbent on not going, and he was mostly concerned about showing his face there, why not go in disguise? Pellus glanced at the clock. Another half-hour had passed. And who knew if the Empress was an early riser and read her letters first thing in the morning? He had no more time to waste. 

“Fine. Nicky, Jurgen, help me find a disguise artifact and I’ll go myself.”  

Nicky and Jurgen stood at attention. “Yes, sire!”  

A few minutes later, Pellus was wearing an artifact around his neck that magically altered his appearance while Jurgen handed him a map of the Imperial Castle.  

Pellus thought briefly about bringing his sword, but then decided against it. It wouldn’t do to show up on imperial grounds with a weapon. Besides, he wanted to be in and out of there quickly, and if all went according to plan, he wouldn’t need the sword. If anything happened, he was more than capable of defending himself with his bare hands if it came down to it.   

Having made that decision, he donned his cloak and pulled the hood up to cover his face (just in case). Then he activated the teleportation gem and in a swirling spiral of light, de-materialized from the room. 

---

Seconds later, the Duke of the North materialized on the grounds of the Imperial Castle. Now, to find out where the letters were kept...  

This should be easy, especially if he was disguised and acted friendly. Nobody would think that a hulking figure who was wandering around the grounds looking for the mail room would look suspicious, right? 

Well, there was one way to find out.  

Chapter 2: Office Visit

Luckily for the Grand Duke, Lithera rose at her usual time that day, which was well past sunrise. After breakfast and her morning meeting with her cabinet heads, she settled down to read her letters when she saw something that made her heart— 

“No, wait!” a voice bellowed. Lithera started and almost dropped the letters. By the time she looked up, a gigantic man had smashed through the double doors and was barreling into her office as if the walls were nothing more than plastered oatmeal. “Wait, please!” the man shouted, his voice a baritone of panic and despair. Lithera could only stare.  

Part of her wanted to scream for help, but a larger part was frozen in shock. In front of her stood the largest man she had ever seen. He easily stood three heads taller than her, and his massive bulk took up most of the space in her tiny office. His dark hair was wild and unruly and he wore an impossibly thick fur coat on top of what looked like impossibly thick armor.  

That wasn’t the most surprising thing though. What was most surprising was how he had half a dozen guards hanging on each arm, and despite the clear strain they were showing in trying to subdue him, he stood unfazed as if they were nothing more than stubborn koala bears clinging to their favorite eucalyptus tree.  

“Your Majesty,” one of the guards panted, struggling with all of his might to pin down one of the man’s arms. The intruder swatted the guard off like he was a fly, and accidentally sent him flying into the wall behind him.  

“He’s...so strong!” another one gasped from the man’s other arm.  

“I told you I meant no harm,” the man said, plucking the guards off one by one and holding them by the collar of their armor as if they were meddlesome kittens. “I just need to retrieve something.”  

“ENOUGH,” a voice hissed, slicing through the air with all the authority of an imperial ruler. The large man stopped and cranked his neck towards the voice. He looked mesmerized for a moment as he stared at the fuming ruler of the Empire.  

“I don’t know who you are,” she declared, “but you will put my guards down at once and explain to me why you are here.”  

To her surprise, the man threw the guards to one side (CRASH! CLANK! GROAN!) and knelt in front of her. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I forgot who I was addressing just now. I meant no disrespect.” 

“Never mind that. I am more concerned with how you treat my people.”  

“Of course. I deeply apologize. It’s only because I needed to tend to a time-sensitive matter of the utmost importance, but no one would allow me near the mail room.”  

At this point, several of the guards had managed to pick themselves up. To their credit, even though their legs wobbled and their hands shook, they bravely advanced on the intruder again. It was at this moment that Lithera noticed all of them had been disarmed. None of them had weapons and many of them had their armor askew. She stared at the giant man again. Did he do all this by himself? Disarm a dozen of her guards at once? And yet he appeared so repentant and tame in front of her now. Embarrassed, almost.  

“Stop,” Lithera commanded and everyone in the room looked up at her. 

“Your Majesty?” one of the guards asked, clearly confused. 

The empress turned to address the large man. “You may stay, but please explain your business here in further detail.”  

“Of course, Your Majesty. I, erm, am from the North, and I came here to—” 

“The North?!” Lithera exclaimed.  

In the next moment, she had leapt over the desk, knelt in front of the man, and clasped his gigantic hands inside of her smaller ones. “Would you happen to know the Grand Duke of the North, Pellus Termaine?” 

Before he could respond, one of the guards cried: “Your Majesty, please! That man could be trying to kill you!”  

“Oh hush,” Lithera chided. “If he had wanted to kill me, he would have done so already.”  

The large man had been repeatedly opening and closing his mouth during this exchange, but at this last statement, he finally found his words. Twisting his body towards the offending guard, he bellowed, “How dare you insinuate such a horrific thing!”  

The guard, for all his bravery, shook like a naked puppy in a snowstorm. 

Surprisingly, when the large man turned back to the empress, his anger instantly vanished as he bowed his head and said, “I could never bring myself to hurt you, Your Majesty. Never.” He stated this with such conviction and deference that it seemed jarringly at odds with his tone when he shouted at the guard. 

However, this was good enough for Lithera. “Good,” she said, “because I want to hear more about the North from someone who actually comes from there. Now tell me, are you acquainted with the Grand Duke?” 

“Erm, yes,” he said, his voice unsteady. “In a way.” 

Lithera gasped. “Splendid!” Her head snapped toward one of the guards. “Mervin, have someone bring us some tea. This gentleman and I have much to talk about!” 

The guards stared at her agape. This gigantic bear of an intruder had barged into her office, smashed down her door, and wrangled a dozen guards off of him as if they were weightless lizards and now she wanted to have tea with him?! 

“Come now, man, hop to it! We mustn’t keep guests waiting!” the Empress said impatiently. 

Their jaws sagged even lower. Guest?!?!

Chapter 3: Teatime

Ten minutes later, Lithera's guest was seated on a couch in one of the castle’s drawing rooms while a manservant poured tea and laid out tea things.  

“I’m sorry we had to move rooms, but this one will offer us more privacy,” Lithera stated, gesturing towards the (intact) doors of the drawing room.  

“Ah, I’m sorry about that,” her guest said. “I can pay to have it fixed. I was a bit too reckless in my haste to, erm, accomplish my mission.”  

“Speaking of which, please tell me your name. As you may already know, I am Lithera Merto.”   

Pellus’s head jerked. She didn’t say Lithera Retum! She and Everett really must be divorced! “Ahem, I am Pe...er, erm...Peregrine, one of the warriors at Castle Termaine.”  

“So you guard the castle itself! You must know the duke then! Why didn’t you say so?” 

“I...was too wrapped up in other things to give a proper introduction,” the duke finished meekly. In reality, Pellus wanted to punch himself. He was supposed to sneak into the palace, find his incriminating letter, and teleport back home immediately, but now...now he was sitting in the castle drawing room having tea with the one person he was trying to avoid!  

Not only that, but his one chance to make a good first impression on the empress failed spectacularly. Now she must think him some thoughtless, blundering buffoon who smashes through doors and barges into people’s private space without any regard to their boundaries or their property. At least the magical disguise meant that she wouldn’t think he was Pellus, but it was still a poor first impression for someone who might be a representative of the Grand Duke. He decided he would do everything in his power to make up for it.  

“I sincerely apologize for all the damage I did,” he began, “as well as for your first impression of me.”  

“Oh, nonsense,” said Lithera, lifting her teacup to her lips. “Any friend of Pellus is a friend of mine.”  

Pellus stared. Surely this woman couldn’t be serious! She could forgive all that?!  

“Honestly, I was surprised he sent someone down here on such short notice. Had I known you were coming, I would have prepared a room for you and a welcome party.”  

What?!   

“Ahem,” said Pellus. “Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty, but there is no need. The duke sent me here on short notice merely because I was to run a quick errand and then head straight back to the North.” 

“Oh, and what is this errand, may I ask? Or if you are not allowed to tell me, at least tell me if there is there any way I can help with it?”  

“He...uh, he sent me to retrieve the most recent letter he sent you. He made a mistake and would like to repossess the letter.”  

A mistake? Lithera thought. Could it have been that question at the end of his letter?  

“I see...” Lithera sat in thought for a long moment. Finally, she shrugged and rose from her seat. “I’ll return the letter to you then.” 

She spoke to the manservant who had poured them tea. He left the room and returned with her stack of letters. Lithera rifled through them until she found Pellus’s letter and then held it out to her guest, along with the envelope. 

Pellus’s heart was already pounding during this short intermission, but then it dropped into his stomach when he realized the envelope had been opened and the pages unfolded. “Your Majesty, pardon my intrusion, but...did you get a chance to read the letter at all?” 

“I did,” she said, “but I didn’t notice a mistake when I read it.” 

She read it already?! Pellus’s face blanched.  

“Peregrine? Are you all right? You look rather ill suddenly.”  

“Ah, no, Your Majesty. I mean, yes, I’m fine. I only...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The duke was hoping to retrieve the letter before you read it, but since you read it already, he, erm, he wants to let you know that what he wrote was a joke.”  

“Which part, may I ask?”  

Pellus froze, but was startled when Lithera laughed.  

“Well, of course you don’t know. You haven’t read the letter. Do pardon me. I’m making too many assumptions on my part.” She took another sip of her tea. “I know that you were told to return immediately to the North once you’ve obtained the letter, but would you at least answer a few questions for me before you go?” 

Pellus could feel sweat trickling out of every pore, but he knew he could never refuse her anything. As a matter of fact, he was torn. One part of him wanted to get out of the palace as soon as possible and return to the safety of his home. The other part had somehow attached himself very firmly to the enchanting woman sitting across from him and stoutly refused to budge.  

“Yes, that...would be fine,” Pellus managed to eke out, his heart rate rising by the minute. 

“Great! Here’s my first question...” 

And that’s how they spent the better part of the morning chatting about the North, the Empire, and most of all, about the Grand Duke. To Pellus’s surprise, she asked an inordinate number of questions about the duke. For example: “What does the Grand Duke look like?” 

“Um...he’s very tall.” 

“As tall as you?” 

“Yes. Um, taller actually.” 

“Even taller?!” 

“Yes, he’s...quite big.”  

The empress’s face suddenly took on a sly look. “I bet he is...” she drawled, and something about her tone made Pellus blush to the very roots of his hair follicles.

“What else?” she prompted.  

“He has, erm, dark hair, and, er, wears a lot of dark clothes.”  

“Kind of like you?” 

“No! I mean, yes, but not me. I meant, um, he looks a bit like me, and dresses like me, but he’s more...” More what? Eloquent? Self-assured? Ugly? The last one was what Pellus wanted to say, but he knew better than to disparage Lithera’s friend to her face. “Scary-looking,” he said finally, hoping that wasn’t offensive.  

“I believe you’re mistaken about that,” she said simply, setting down her teacup and propping her head on one hand. 

“Pardon?” 

“About the duke being scary-looking. I believe you are mistaken about that.” 

“What makes you say that?” Pellus asked, unable to keep a note of panic out of his voice. Was the magical artifact failing? Was his disguise glitching? Did he slip and do something to tip her off?  

His hand flew to his chest, where the disguise artifact was hanging from a chain. It was still glowing and warm, however, indicating that it was still activated. That dampened his panic only a little, though, until Lithera’s voice to brought him back from his thoughts. 

“Because that is what he wants everyone to think. I’ve heard the rumors about the so-called ‘Beast of the North’, but I refuse to believe that a man as kind and helpful and generous as my friend is anything but the most warm-hearted creature alive.” She paused and leaned forward. “And I believe that shows through in his countenance as well, no matter what he may present to the outside world.” 

Pellus’s jaw sagged. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and it took everything in his power to hold himself together in that moment. Part of him wanted to break down crying. How could she see through him so easily? Part of him wanted to dash from the room, return to the North, and lock himself away in his castle for all eternity. He didn’t deserve to be in the presence of someone as pure and benevolent as the Empress, let alone marry her. And part of him wanted to fall at her feet, declare his undying love and loyalty, and never leave her side again.  

That last part, of course, was utterly ridiculous. If anything was to going to ruin their friendship, it would be that last impulse.  

Then why was it so hard to squash?! 

Something must have shown on his face because the Empress suddenly looked very alarmed. “Peregrine, is everything all right? You look on verge of fainting.” She turned to the manservant. “Elmore, please open a window for the poor man. Then fetch some smelling salts.”  

“No, no, I’m fine,” Pellus said, waving a hand. “I really must be going, however. I’m needed back at the castle.” 

“Yes, of course. My apologies for keeping so long. If there’s one last thing you could do for me, please take my return letter to the duke.”  

“Return letter?” 

“Yes. I always write a response to my dear friend. However, for the sake of time, I will make my response short this time and send a longer letter later on.” 

“But don’t you usually send your letters through magic?” he asked.  

“I do, but since you came all this way, I may as well send it back with you. I assume that because you arrived here in such a short time, you are using teleportation magic to return as well?” 

“Erm...yes,” Pellus admitted. It didn’t take a keen mind to figure that out, he reasoned, especially since it was several weeks’ journey by carriage from the North and he made it here in one morning.   

The manservant fetched some pen and paper for the empress and she scribbled out a quick response before she sealed the letter in an envelope and handed it to Pellus.  

“Well, Peregrine, I wish you a safe return and please give my dearest regards to my most trusted friend up there. Tell him that if he ever sends someone down from the North, or if he himself ever changes his mind about coming to meet me, then let me know ahead of time so I can prepare a warm welcome.”  

Pellus stood and made a deep bow to the Empress. “You are too kind, Your Majesty. I will be sure to relay your message.” 

The Empress walked him out to the entrance of the Imperial Palace and then waved as he walked off of the grounds.  

Once he was out of sight, the duke ducked behind a high wall to catch his breath and steady his overwrought nerves. He knew he should have teleported back to the North as soon as he left the castle grounds, but he needed time to process what had just happened. 

 Could this all be a strange dream? he asked himself. But no, here was the letter he had sent, safely tucked under his armor. And here was Lithera’s response, also tucked snugly inside of his armor. He pulled out Lithera’s letter.  

He knew he should wait until he returned to the North to read it. He knew. He could even picture himself back at the castle, seated at his desk with his glasses on, and a fire roaring in the background as he read it. 

And yet... 

Chapter 4: A Startling Confrontation

Before Pellus could quell the impulse, he tore open the letter and read it. The first impression he got was that the letter was short. As a matter of fact, the letter has only two small paragraphs: 

 

Dear Pellus, 

Thank you for sending Peregrine to retrieve your letter. He was such a kind, respectful man and answered so many questions for me. Please feel free to send him again sometime, except perhaps give me a warning first so I can prepare for him and my guards won’t be on high alert.  

As for the letter you sent, I read it before Peregrine was able to retrieve it, and even though I don’t know which part was the “mistake” or “joke”, I did want to ask a question in answer to your question: What would you have done if I had said yes?  

Yours truly, 

Lithera 

 

Pellus couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was that a yes? No, it couldn’t be. It was only a question, after all. She was only asking him what he would do if she did say yes. Well, what would he have done?  

His heart immediately answered him. He would have come to the Imperial Palace in all haste, laid down his most prized treasures at her feet, knelt on one knee, and married her on the spot.  

Bu it was not meant to be, Pellus sighed. The question was hypothetical after all, not a real answer. The Grand Duke leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground in a crumpled heap. He might as well give up now. They were friends. Nothing more. He thought he had lost her once. He refused to do anything that could risk losing her again.  

After a few indulgent moments of wallowing in self-pity, the duke pulled himself to his feet and was about to pull out the teleportation gem when: 

“I was wondering how long you were going to wait before you read that.” 

Pellus whirled around.  

“Lithera! I mean, Your Majesty!” Then he realized he was still holding the letter. Quickly stuffing it back into his armor, he bowed before her and said, “Please pardon me. I did not mean to address you in such a familiar fashion.” 

A long silence stretched between them. Pellus was too afraid to look up or move, seeing as he was caught reading a private letter addressed to his employer.  

Will she execute me? he wondered. Will she send a letter to tell the duke? Maybe I can send one back telling her that he had been appropriately disciplined and that it won’t happen again...   

Pellus was still pondering all this when a curl of pink appeared at the corner of his vision. When he finally dared to look up, his jaw dropped to see the empress kneeling before him. He felt even further shock at her next words: 

“Please rise, my friend. It is an honor to finally meet you, and I would like us to meet not as empress and duke, but as the old friends we are.”  

“Wha...?” 

But before he could say anything further, Lithera took his hands and pulled him into a standing position. Looking up at his towering figure, she gazed at him softly and said, “Why did you feel the need to hide from me?” 

Pellus went through a dozen emotions in a span of seconds: shock, surprise, embarrassment, shame, and panic, among others.  

When he finally regained a modicum of composure, he was only able to squeak: “What? Why would you...? How did you...?” 

Lithera laughed, the sound sending tingles throughout Pellus’s body. When her laughter died down, she said, “I sensed something unusual about you as soon as you came into the room. Part of the reason I wanted you to stay and answer questions was so I could figure out what it was. I had several theories, but it wasn’t until I saw you touch your necklace that I realized you were wearing an artifact. That, and the way you answered my questions, was what really brought it together.”  

“Your Majesty!” But all of Pellus’s protests died on his lips. In the end, he could only bow his head. “You are too clever.”  

“Please,” Lithera said, raising a hand. “Call me Lithera. If there is anyone in the world who has earned the right to address me by name, it’s you.”  

“Well, now that you know my secret...” Pellus rubbed the back of his head, not knowing how to continue. 

“Actually, I don’t know all of it,” Lithera said, tapping a finger against her chin. “If I may...” Here she reached towards Pellus’s collarbone, her fingers hovering a few centimeters from the artifact that hung around his neck. “May I see your real face?” 

Pellus involuntarily drew back. “I do not think that is a good idea, Your Majesty. My real face is...not for one such as you to behold.”  

Lithera looked disappointed. “Is it because I am unworthy to look upon a face as beautiful as yours?” 

“What?! No! That’s not what I—” 

But he stopped when heard her laughing. His ears burned. “You tease me, Your Majesty.” 

“Lithera,” said the empress firmly. “And besides, can you blame me for wanting to look upon the face of my future husband?” 

“Fu-future husband?!” 

“Why, yes,” said Lithera, plucking up a corner of her fur-lined cloak and nibbling on it. “Is that not what you wrote to me in your letter?” Then her face fell. “Unless that was the joke you were talking about?” 

“Well, the truth is...”  

But the duke was silent for so long that Lithera had to prompt him. “The truth is...” 

Pellus’s knees really were about to give out on him. The pressure of this was too much. But exhaustion combined with all of the stress he had endured in the last few hours broke down his resolve. It didn’t matter now. She had already discovered him. What good would it do to keep up the charade?  

The Grand Duke fell to his knees. “It wasn’t a joke. I said that to save face in case you didn’t want to marry me.”  

“And what made you think I wouldn’t want to marry you?” she asked innocently.  

“Because...because I am a beast!” he wailed helplessly.  

“And why should that deter me?” 

“Uh...pardon?”  

“Regardless of how you may present yourself to everyone else, I already know the man behind the letter—behind the facade, if you will—and you, my dear friend, are no beast.” 

“But the political implications if we married! The damage to your reputation! The...the...” Pellus wanted to break down weeping. He felt so conflicted right now. The woman he loved was willing to marry him in spite of all that he was, in spite of the political ramifications, and here he was trying to talk her out of it!  

It’s for her own good, he tried to argue (with himself). He couldn’t possibly bring so much strife and unnecessary political gossip into her life by letting her marry him. It would be unforgivable! No, he must do the right thing, no matter how much it pained him.  

Lithera must have been a mind reader because she suddenly said, “Are you trying to talk me out of marrying you?” She crossed her arms. “Because I’ll have you know that I am quite stubborn and once I’ve made up my mind about something, I am not easily dissuaded.” 

“But Your Maj—”  

Lithera put a finger to his lips. “Call me that one more time and I promise I will never speak to you again.”  

Pellus gulped. “Yes, Your...erm, Lithera.”  

“Good. Now that that’s settled, we can talk about the real heart of the issue.” She paused. “Unless you really did have to get back to the North?” she asked, propping her chin on one hand as she observed him. 

“Erm...no,” Pellus said, defeated. He knew he should have lied to her and said he needed to return immediately, but somehow, she would have seen right through it. She was already reading him like an open book so what was the point of keeping up this tragic farce?  

“Wonderful!” said Lithera. “Now, my dear Pellus, if you’ll accompany me back to the castle, we can have lunch and settle on the details of our engagement.”  

“Y-yes, my dear,” said Pellus, dazed as the empress looped her arm through his and led him back towards the castle.  

How had he gotten himself into this situation???  

Chapter 5: Uproar

By the time the Empress and the Duke returned to the Palace, it was in an uproar. The double doors to the entrance of the castle had been thrown open and broken furniture lied scattered across the entryway. Shouting and panicked voices mingled in a symphony of rising panic.

“Stop! Get him!” someone shouted.  

But they were too late. Another tall, hooded intruder (how many intruders can the Palace have in one day?! thought Lithera) had juggernauted past the guards and was tearing apart Lithera’s office.

I really need to rethink security here , the Empress thought.

But she didn’t have much time to think further. The intruder had emerged into the entryway and spotted her.  

“There you are!” he shouted triumphantly. “To think I was looking for you in the wrong place!”  

Wait. Lithera knew that voice, but before she could react, the intruder lunged forward. The sword he had raised over his head glinted like an exploding star. 

“You dare to divorce me!” he screeched, his words ringing through the hall, “but if I cannot have you...”  

His sword never met its mark. 

Instead, a humongous figure suddenly blocked his path. 

CLANG! CRUNCH.   

The next moment, the intruder’s sword bit into something immovably solid and thick, the resulting reverberation rattling his very bones. 

Then a giant hand seized him and flung him so hard that he slammed into the wall behind him and crumpled like a ragdoll.  

The impact knocked the wind from him, too, and he couldn’t catch his breath for several long, agonizing moments. Stars danced before his vision before they cleared, revealing the figure towering over him.  

The sight of the raging leviathan standing before him was enough to turn his blood to ice, enough to make him wish he had stopped breathing. It was a terror unlike any he had ever known before. 

Well, that's what he thought anyway. Once the beast spoke, however, that made it so much more terrifying.  

“You. Dare. To. Attack. LITHERA?!?!” the figure roared, unbridled venom and fury injected into every syllable.  

The intruder screamed as the leviathan took fistfuls of his shirt and lifted him clear off the ground, his hood falling back and his legs windmilling several feet in the air. 

“Everett,” the figure seethed, the voice dropping into an even lower, more dangerous tone (if that was possible).  

Everett, however, was too panicked to really process anything. All he knew was that he couldn’t breathe, some of his bones were probably fractured, and that this beast who had a hold on him was not letting him go anytime soon.  

Clawing at thin air, Everett’s fingers caught on something around the beast’s neck. In panic, he yanked hard at it.  

The necklace came flying off and something in the beast’s appearance faltered. Its features shifted and shimmered as the dark irises of his eyes filled with blood red and jagged scars twisted over his face. 

Only one person had a face like that... 

“Pellus!” 

Then Everett realized that the voice calling out the Duke’s name was not his own, but was coming from behind them. A sea of pink waves came swimming into their field of vision. “Pellus, please! You’re bleeding!”  

What?! He was being strangled by this beast and all she could think about was the fact that the beast was bleeding?! What about ME?! Everett thought indignantly.  

After a few more pleas, Pellus finally gave in to Lithera’s urging and dropped Everett.  

The fallen prince was immediately swarmed by guards who bound his hands and feet and took him away.  

Pellus, meanwhile, sank into a chair that Lithera brought over for him. 

In spite of everything, the Duke of the North was smiling in relief that his love was unharmed.  “Are you all right, my dear?” 

Lithera didn’t answer. Instead, she stood staring at him. 

Was his face bleeding too? Is that why she was staring at him like that? He touched his face, but froze when he felt the grooved, jagged edges of the scars that usually crisscrossed his features. Wait a minute...The disguise artifact was supposed to cover up the scars!  

Pellus’s hands flew down to his neck, groping desperately for the necklace. It was gone! He stood up so quickly that his chair toppled and clattered to the floor. 

Covering his face with one large hand, he frantically searched for the artifact.  

There! Across the room!  

But it seemed to be leagues away now. Not only that, but almost everyone else rushing about the hall had stopped to gawk at him. 

Panicking, he turned towards the door. Fleeing would be a better option at this point.  

Lithera must have suspected this. Before he could take another step, she snatched up his hand. “Pellus, please sit down. You’re bleeding,” she said gently, as if speaking to a spooked animal.  

“Your Majesty! I can’t! I must...I must...” His resolve withered under her steely gaze.  

“What did I tell you about calling me that?”  

“Lithera, please!” he begged. “You're not supposed to see me like this.”  

In response, she took Pellus’s other hand and tugged him back toward the chair. One of the servants set it upright again, and Lithera firmly sat him down into it. She knelt in front of him and said, “Pellus, I don’t care what you look like; I just want you to be okay.”  

“But I...!”  

Lithera held up a hand and he fell silent. “Let me help you first. We can discuss the rest later,” she said. She barked orders to her staff, and they fetched her bandages and ointments and a tub of hot water. They still stood gawking at him, however, so Lithera eventually dismissed most of them, leaving only herself and a few guards in the room.  

Pellus twisted with embarrassment as the Empress cleaned and dressed his wounds. She ignored his feeble protests that he could do it himself and wordlessly continued tending to him until he was patched up.  

And even then, she clasped one of his hands into her own. “Thank you,” she told him. “For saving my life.”  

“It was nothing,” he mumbled, not daring to look at her.  

“No, it was not nothing.” Lithera dropped her voice, taking care that her guards did not hear. “None of my guards are as strong nor as fast as you, and truth be told, I think they’ve become complacent since I’ve taken the throne.” She looked away, disappointment and sadness etched in her features. “If it hadn’t been for you, I might have died today.”  

“Your Maj—ahem, Lithera, please don’t say things like that. It pains me to think of a world without you.”  

The empress smiled softly. “I feel the same about you.”  

The duke blinked in astonishment. If his face were any redder, he might have looked like he was running a fever. “Please don’t say things like that, either,” he stammered. 

“Why not? It’s how I feel.”  

The duke blinked. “Are you always so...open with your feelings?” 

“I don’t see why not. Even someone like me isn’t going to live forever so why not express yourself when you have the chance?”  

Somehow, he got the feeling she wasn't just talking about herself. Then she raised an eyebrow. “Or does my candor make you uncomfortable?” 

Pellus hesitated. “I am not accustomed to such...forthrightness.” 

“Well, if we are to marry someday, you’ll grow used to it eventually.”  

He covered his face with both hands this time. “Lithera, there are others present.” 

“Let them hear. They’ll learn about it eventually.” 

“But...we can’t marry!” 

“And why not?” 

“It would ruin you!”  

“My dear Pellus, I faced down the Dragon of Annihilation, halted the End of the World, and just survived an assassination attempt from my deranged ex-husband. If all that couldn’t stop me, I don’t see how marriage to you could make a dent in my reputation.”  

Pellus was at a loss for words. He knew there was no way to win against her. 

And for once, he didn’t want to try. 

Chapter 6: Political Fallout

The political fallout was tremendous.  

Everett was put on trial for his crimes and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment under holy restraints so at least that part turned out well.  

However, the sudden appearance of the duke in the Imperial Palace was seen as a bid for power.  

“He must have heard about the Empress’s divorce and then rushed to the Palace to marry her.” 

“Had this been his ploy all along? Did he drive a wedge between them for this reason?” 

“Despicable. We should have known that the Northern Beast had been plotting something all this time.” 

Pellus was in utter despair. This was exactly the kind of thing that he was trying to avoid. He knew he shouldn’t have come to the palace. He should have just sent another letter to the Empress to play off his “marriage proposal” as a joke and then they could have avoided this whole thing. 

But Lithera was having none of it. “If you are serious about marrying me,” she said, “then I think we should go ahead with it.”  

The duke’s jaw sagged. “But everyone already thinks that I’m trying to gain political power!” 

“And why should that stop us? Think of it this way: if you were trying to gain political power, I would give it to you. You’ve been my most trusted friend for five years now, and you know much more about running a country than I do. I would remain Empress, but we would be equals in terms of political rule. If you weren’t trying to gain political power, then ours would be a love marriage, and then what is there to complain about?” 

She...had a point there. 

“But the nobles won’t trust me! They are already be prejudiced against me, and...and that would make your life harder.”  

Lithera touched his hand. “My dearest friend, being an Empress is already hard. The burdens I’ve had to bear are not made any lighter by the gossip or political machinations of the nobles, but...they are made lighter by my friendship with you.”  

Then she sat back. “However, your worries are not without cause. How about this then?” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Since you’ve already proposed to me, we can become officially engaged. It will take some time for us to send out invitations and prepare for the wedding anyway so why not use this time to let them see us as a loving couple instead of a political marriage?” She intertwined her fingers with Pellus’s. “If they think you are here for political power alone and do not care for me, then I suppose we have no choice but to prove them wrong, won’t we?” 

Pellus could barely think straight. Feeling her fingers wrapped up in his...was doing strange things to him.  

Feeling emboldened, he gingerly lifted their joined hands and planted a chaste kiss to her knuckles. “I suppose we have no choice then,” he said, hardly believing the words he was saying.  

Who was this enchanting woman who could bring him to his knees so easily? Could it be possible that she was even more charming and bewitching in real life than in her letters? He hardly believed it himself, but...here they were.  

---

The very next day, Lithera sent out an official declaration stating that they were engaged.  

The next six months were not easy, packed as it was with wedding preparations and discussions of how they were to manage governing the Empire and the North simultaneously, but they flew by all the same.  

The borders to the North were opened to the rest of the Empire and, although it took quite some time, prejudices against the North (and the Duke) began to ease. 

Lithera made sure to schedule lots of dates throughout their engagement so people could see them together as a loving couple, but she also made sure they had a lot of time alone as well to get to know each other privately.  

Pellus, meanwhile, lent a hand in matters of governance and rule, guiding Lithera on how to keep the empire safe and to settle matters of trade and diplomacy. Monilla, of course, continued to provide her expertise and was one of the few people who supported their engagement from the very beginning.  

A month before she was to be remarried, Lithera called Monilla to a private meeting.  

“You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?”  

“Yes, Moni. I have a proposition for you.”

“I am ready to serve you, as always, Your Majesty.” 

“In that case, how would you feel about taking over for me?”  

Chapter 7

“Take over for you?” Monilla asked, blinking in disbelief. 

“Yes, at least for now. As you know, I will be going on a honeymoon right after the wedding and there is no one else I trust to rule in my place. Not only that, but I will be stopping by the North to spend a week up there with my new husband so we can sort out some of the logistics of ruling two places at once. You will be regent of the Empire in that time.”  

“Your Majesty, this is a lot of trust to place someone who was your former rival for the throne. An almost naive amount, if I may point out.”  

“I understand that, but I cannot think of anyone else who has the qualifications to do it. What’s more, even though you refused my offer of friendship, I hope that you can do this for me as a trusted confidante and mentor, if not a friend.”  

Monilla could only stare. This woman was something else.  

Then again, Monilla herself was the one who had suggested she marry the Grand Duke so what did she think was going to happen?  

I thought he would move here , she thought. I thought he might assign someone else to look after the North while he helped her here.   

Then a part of her realized that she wanted Lithera to learn more, to grow as a ruler. She now understood that she did not want to be Lithera’s only mentor and guide in ruling, that she could benefit from the guidance of someone else as well. 

True, Lithera had been exchanging letters with the Grand Duke for five years, but it was quite a different matter to rule alongside someone, to visit the people and the parts of the Empire in person to see what was going on, to have serious, in-person discussions on trade and policy and diplomatic relations. Somehow, instinctively, Monilla knew that the duke would be able to provide all that for Lithera.  

And he would provide something else as well: the friend that Lithera yearned for. While it was true that Monilla had political aspirations for Lithera to marry the duke, she was not blind to the unbalanced marriage the empress had with her former husband.  

Lithera was different with Pellus though. She appeared relaxed and easy, her burdens melting away when she was with him.  

The duke, for his part, was very sweet with her as well. It was almost as if two different people lived inside of him: the Northern Beast that he showed to everyone and the soft-hearted teddy bear he was with her. 

Hmmm, maybe her suggestion was working out better than she expected.  

“Very well, Your Majesty. I shall rule in your stead. However, I will still be consulting with you if any matter of grave importance should come up.” 

“Of course. Thank you for helping me shoulder this burden.’ 

“Speaking of burdens...” 

“Yes?” 

“Might I suggest that you take a trip to the famous hot springs in the North while you’re there? You’ve been working nonstop with the wedding preparations and arranging affairs for when you are gone, and I think a trip to somewhere relaxing will do you a world of good.” 

Lithera jolted. Did she really look that stressed? Sure, she barely slept nowadays and her waking moments were a whirlwind of duties and errands, but she thought she was happy with it all! 

As if reading her mind, Monilla said, “I understand that you must be very excited about the things to come, but that doesn’t mean it won’t wear you out, either. Please consider what I’ve said.”  

The empress nodded. Monilla often had a way of seeing things that she missed. “I will. Thank you, Moni.”  

---

The wedding was actually a small affair. Knowing that Pellus would be self-conscious, Lithera kept the guest list to a manageable size without leaving out anyone. Some of the attendees only came to see if it was true that the empress was marrying the Beast of the North while others came to make sure he was treating her well (which, of course, he was).  

Taking Monilla’s advice, Lithera visited the hot springs while she was up North and they did wonders to restore her overworked mind and body.  

After the honeymoon, Lithera and Pellus split their time between ruling the Empire and making regular trips to the North to check on things there. After a few years of this, however, Lithera turned over the ruling of the Empire to Monilla and Topaz and moved to the North permanently, where she lived the rest of her days (very happily) simply as Lithera Termaine, Grand Duchess of the North. 

THE END 

Notes:

Whew. That's the end of it, folks! This story was supposed to be a one-shot, but it got away from me somehow and turned into 7 chapters! Thank you to everyone who stayed with it until the end. I'll see you around the fandom!