The Duke's Masked Wife

"His ability to sleep anywhere is somewhat amazing," Caleb said, looking down at his brother who claimed a chair in the court as his own and went to sleep. "I delivered the message to the Duchess. I doubt she plans to go to sleep before you return. Alfred was also still awake."

"Right," Edgar tapped his arm with his fingers.

"Where is she?" Bella nervously played with her fingers as she awaited her mother's arrival at the court. "I would have seen her by now if they would just let you take me home."

'I would also be home by now,' Edgar thought.

"I'm sure she will be here soon," Mark promised as he approached the small group. Bella was sticking close to Edgar while Kate was in a room being looked at by a doctor. "Do you want something to eat or drink, Bella?"

"No, I just want my mother. Once I have shown her that I am still here then I will think about other things. Oh, a carriage has arrived," Bella said, slowly walking to the entrance to see who would be coming out of it. "Mother!" She yelled running out to be reunited with her mother.

"It's good we were able to reunite one family with their daughter," Mark said as they watched Bella's mother hop out of the carriage before it stopped and fall to the ground crying before she could reach Bella to hug her. She was most likely not believing her daughter was right in front of her.

"We?" Edgar asked as he didn't recall Mark being involved with finding Bella. "Stop trying to attach your name to other's good work."

Mark smiled. "I am not and you know what I meant. There's going to be a lot of noise tomorrow once everyone finds out Simon killed himself.  The kingdom wanted to see the person hung for all his crimes. Simon seemed so normal. How far gone could he have been to kill himself? I heard about his parents."

"What they did doesn't matter after he went on a killing spree. No one wants to hear about the sad childhood he had right now. That will be your headache tomorrow. I am officially off this case and I don't want to be put on another. I have a family I prefer to spend time with," Edgar said. If Tobias tried putting him in another case, the kingdom would be without a King.

"Aren't you concerned about the people blaming you for letting Simon get away so easily?" Mark asked.

"Why would I be? I wasn't there when he died and my men were the ones who helped solve this long before the town guards could. I hope people will complain so I won't have to get involved in something that is not my job in the future. Next time, have the people sign up to chase around a madman and see if it is easy. The important thing is that he is dead," Edgar replied.

He could not turn back time to be there in the church with Simon and take him to face his punishment in the morning. Edgar preferred that Simon was a coward and though he knew Reed or Caleb would have won the fight, he liked that they didn't fight against Simon who had nothing to lose. If Peter was not involved, perhaps this day would have had a different ending.

"I'd like to say his death will bring peace, but the commoners might not let this die down so easily. Hopefully, they don't take their anger for Simon out on other nobles. Now that her mother is here, you can leave. We've already made a note of everything you did up to this point. I know you want to get- You!" Mark exclaimed as Edgar started to walk away from him before he finished speaking.

"Where is my daughter?"

Mark looked away from Edgar to the other carriage that arrived in front of the court. Katrina was yelling before she was out of the carriage.

"Where is Kate?" Katrina asked as she exited the carriage. She paid no attention to Bella and her mother. "Someone answer me right fucking now and say that this is all a joke. Where is my daughter?"

"The Marchioness is being taken care of by a doctor. I know you are worried, but keep in mind this is a court. We will tell you everything you need to know-"

"Take me to her now!" Katrina demanded. She didn't want to hear about anything else until she saw Kate.

"She is with a doctor right now. I'm afraid you cannot go inside until he is finished. You might distract him," Mark said. The doctor asked for no disturbances while he dealt with Kate's wound.

Edgar looked over his shoulder and told Caleb, "Wake your brother. We're going home."

"You had something to do with this," Katrina turned her attention to Edgar. First, it was her face, and now he was somehow involved with what happened to Kate.

"The Duke was the one to suspect Simon and help find your daughter. Regardless of the bad blood between you two, you should thank him right now. Simon was the one who hurt your daughter and wounded her face-"

"Her face? Where the hell is that bastard!" Katrina yelled, wanting to get her hands on Simon for having the audacity to hurt her daughter. She trusted Simon to take care of Kate and this was what she got in the end. She went out of her way to make sure Kate had a better life than her own so how did it turn out this way?

"Simon is dead," Mark answered. "He killed himself."

Edgar had enough of the conversation and started to walk away.

"He wounded Kate's face and all of you have the nerve to let him get away with it?" Katrina said, frustrated with these men who could not do their job right.

Edgar stopped when he heard her words and said, "You're right. We should have gotten him punished for injuring Kate's face."

Katrina was confused by Edgar agreeing with her. Kate's face was a treasure and she had never allowed anyone to ever hurt her daughter. Simon deserved to be punished instead of getting off so easily. "At least one of you has some sense-"

"With that in mind, don't you think it's time you bring yourself into the court and confess to the things you did to Alessandra? The things you and Kate did. You have a few things you need to be punished for," Edgar said.

"This isn't about your wife," Katrina replied, annoyed by the fact he had somehow brought Alessandra into this when Kate was the one injured. Why should she care about what happened to Alessandra? Kate was her flesh and blood. The one person Katrina had to look out for.

"It is always about my wife to me," Edgar answered and then turned to continue his way out of the court with Caleb and a sleepy Reed right behind him. He hadn't forgotten about punishing Katrina for the things she did to Alessandra and with there being a chance Kate planned to have Simon take Alessandra, his hatred for the mother and daughter grew.

Killed or imprisoned. Edgar did not care how their punishment would come. He simply did not want the mother and daughter who lacked sympathy for his wife to get off so easily. Whatever Simon did with Kate wasn't enough.

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