The Devil Duchess Adopts The Villainess

“I don’t trust that merchant with his weak looking appearance. Something about him gives me a bad feeling.”

Elise heard a soft voice coming from behind her and turned around to see Elena peering out of the window to see the carriages exiting the castle gates. Her forehead was wrinkled up in annoyance, but Elise was suddenly struck by the feeling that she seemed very cute.

“Oh, why is that?” Elise asked nonchalantly.

“Sirens are very sensitive to changes in feelings and the hearts of men. When the merchant was leaving, he turned around and I could sense some dark emotions of greed surrounding him,” Elena replied.

While sirens were considered a dark race and hence had no mana to perform spells, their abilities as telepaths and empaths were unparalleled compared to any other race. Sirens were masters of temptation and lust with songs to lure in unsuspecting sailors.

Naturally they had high sensitivity to the moods and emotions around them. While Elena may have been outshone by the other Valkyries in terms of raw power, it was important to note that her mind manipulation songs were far more powerful than those of her peers.

Her talent was so great that the Atlanae Queen of the sirens had even offered her a position as a princess in order to sway her to the royal family’s side.

This was about two years ago, and Elena had shocked the mermaid race at the time by just shaking her head and declaring that her oath to Lady Elise was for a lifetime.

What she failed to tell her duchess was the main reason that she could tell the man had no good intentions was the hidden mark on Elise’s arm. Sirens left a mark on their future spouses to sense any negative emotions that others had towards them.

The mark was invisible to the eye until the union was consummated. Part of the reason that sirens kept this matter a secret was that once the mark had been activated, the sirens who bonded would no longer be attracted to any person other than their partner.

The mark was a useful tool for protection but it was rarely used as it was a life and death bond so if the mate died, the siren would follow them to the grave.

Elena had gotten drunk during one of the monster extermination campaigns and brushed up against Elise’s arm softly with her lips to place the mark.

Elise had thought nothing of the incident but when Elena sobered up, she was horrified and filled with guilt with what she had done.

It was a simple ritual to remove a temporary mark, but it required the consent of both parties and poor Elena was simply to embarrassed to tell her secret crush.

Over the following weeks, she just told herself that if her duchess ever got engaged then she would come clean and remove the mark while claiming it as an accident.

“Although…. I would kill any man who touched my lady!” Elena growled to herself.

Her frown became more pronounced but Elise who was by her side thought she was just still bothered by the merchant.

“There is no need to be concerned. The Golden Mask may have a reputation as a vicious company, but they also built up an image as an organisation that prioritises client safety and privacy,” Elise explained.

“Who could trust them if their clients could be sold to the highest bidder?” Elise was reassured as her father had constantly reminded her of the strengths and advantages of the company.

“I still think we should be a bit careful,” Elena hesitantly spoke.

Elise nodded and headed back towards her daughter who was now peacefully lying down on the new bed with an expression of contentment on her face. Elena’s warning had been thrown to the back of her mind and she decided to just have Gerald run a mild investigation.

A few months later and Elise would wish that she had killed the men who had left her castle. It was one of the first mistakes that would cost her a terrible price.

(Inside the bedroom)

Her little daughter Ashley was relaxing on the bed with the maids surrounding her with beaming expressions on their faces. One maid had a hairbrush in her hand and was about to braid her lady’s hair.

“No need I will do it myself,” Elise entered the room and Ashley’s eyes immediately lit up in excitement.

She took the hairbrush from the stunned maid’s hands and sat down while pulling her little daughter onto her lap. Under the shock and amazement of all the servants present, the vicious monster of the north gently started to braid and comb her daughter’s hair.

No trace of the cold woman could be seen as a small smile danced across her lips. Elise truly was an extremely beautiful woman but unfortunately for her, many would be suitors had been scared off by her personality and abilities, so marriage proposals were few and far between.

However, if they could see her now, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the letters of marriage would greatly increase.

“You are all dismissed for the rest of the day. That includes you as well Elena, I know you have not rested since we came back to the city,” Elise ordered.

There was clear reluctance in the maidservants and Elena’s eyes, but they bowed silently and left the room. Elise tied a simple braid at the end of Ashley’s hair but when she saw the final product, she was a little hesitant to show her daughter a mirror.

Elise was not well versed in hair and make- up as her maids would attend to her appearance in the morning. The braid of Ashley’s hair was very simple and slightly crooked to one side, it would be very impressive for a child but as an adult it was far from acceptable.

She put down the brush and quietly stroked her daughter’s hair while listening carefully to the soft breaths that the little girl made. It had been a long day travelling through the town and Ashley was very sleepy. Her eyes involuntarily closed, and the warm arms of her mother lulled her to sleep.

Elise sensed the child was asleep and carefully placed the blanket over the both of them and hugged her daughter. The trauma of the last nightmare was very fresh in her mind, so Elise was reluctant to fall asleep in fear of losing control.

Therefore, she did the next best thing and just watched her daughter snore heavily on her chest.

It was an afternoon filled with simple peace and relaxation that Elise had never felt in years. What had she been living for?

Duty. Honour. Noblesse Oblige.

After her mother’s banishment and her father’s mysterious death, there was only one outlet for her pain and sorrow. She tossed her every being into managing the dukedom and fighting to protect it. It was around this time that she gained the reputation as a warmonger and none of the high society madams dared to send their sons to her house as a marriage candidate.

Not when there were countless other alternatives from the neighbouring kingdoms with better prospects than ruling a cold frigid land.

“Maybe I should start taking some rest,” Elise contemplated to herself.

She did not want to become a mother who was barely home to play with her child, she knew that pain and loneliness far better than anyone else and would be damned before she allowed her daughter to go through the experiences that she did.

Her own mother had been on Elise’s mind more and more as of late and it was clearly starting to affect her. Elise balled up her fists and made a decision, as a mother she could not afford to fall apart if her daughter needed her.

She needed to find a way to reach out to her mother eventually and ask her the burning questions that had plagued her heart. She did not want to give forgiveness but rather demand an explanation for how she could send her own daughter into hell.

Elise’s hands shook almost imperceptibly, and she tried to do the first step by saying her mother’s name out loud.

The name that no one in the castle had mentioned in over five years, the beautiful and kind loving woman who ruled the castle while her husband was waging wars alongside his soldiers.

The woman whose name was,

“Catherine Blackwolf.”