The Devil Duchess Adopts The Villainess

Elise stepped out of the palace and smiled when her face was hit with the fresh air from the outside. She hated the stuffy atmosphere of the noble gathering and the sickeningly disgusting masks they all put on. Those people would greet you as a friend or a brother in the morning and stab you in the back by the time the night fell.

She began to walk in the direction of the gate of the noble district until she got distracted by the rustling in the little bundle in her arms. Ashley’s head poked out of the coat and looked at the woman carrying her and hesitantly opened her mouth.

“I never learnt how to be a noble, I can only read and write” Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Elise gently gazed at the little girl and replied in a joking manner,”What a coincidence, I’m often told by my butler that outside of fighting I am not very good at being a noblewoman”. Her violet eyes flashed cheerfully with mirth and Ashley stared transfixed at the sight.

“Let’s go to a tailor shop and get you several new dresses,” she continued. Ashley tried to see any trace of deception in her eyes but could not see anything. She could not understand why this fairy had picked her up and saved her.

“Why are you doing this?”, she finally cautiously asked. Elise seriously looked at the girl and saw the fear and reluctance in her eyes. Her chest tightened unconsciously, and she spoke, “Promise me you will see me as a mother and no harm will ever come to you, this I swear.”Ashley was still slightly hesitant but nodded her head and decided to trust the lady who brought her away from her cage for now.

“I promise you mom”

Ring Ring

Elise stepped into the store listening to the chimes of the bells hanging on the door as it swung open. She tightly held Ashley’s hand as they each looked around the store like a pair of lost ducklings. Elise rarely went shopping and her expertise lay mostly on picking our armour rather than the latest fashion trends. At this time she was suddenly missing her young maidservant who would often pick out clothes for her to wear.

“Hello dear customers, can I help you today?”, a young half elf girl approached the mother and daughter pair. She squealed in delight as she saw the little girl holding her mother’s hand and hiding behind her skirt. The mother and daughter were both incredibly good looking and she could not wait to play dress up.

“Yes, I need several pairs of dresses and everyday clothes” Elise replied.

“Is there a price range that you have in mind?” the salesgirl asked curiously. Elise confidently reached into her dress pocket and held out a bag. She opened it and the flashing glint of gold appeared in store. “Whatever she wants I’ll buy it for her,” Elise spoke with no hesitation.

Ashley’s eyes opened in shock as she had never seen so much money before. She quickly shook her head sideways and stepped behind Elise. Elise turned and looked down at her, “Ashley when we left the palace you promise me to be your mother and as from this moment on, you are a member of house Blackwolf. It would throw away all the face of our house if our little princess was not as beautifully dressed as she looks”.

Elise was not good with children so her words were slightly awkward but she knew Ashley suffered from a low sense of self esteem. This bothered he quite a bit and she did not want her to remain that way. Ashley tightened her hand softly and reluctantly stepped out in front of her mom. The salesgirl clapped her hands wildly. “Alright let me just take you off to try on a few new dresses!”, she took Ashley from Elise’s hands and led her to the back room to try on some clothes.

Ashley looked back and Elise smiled at her, seemingly getting some confidence Ashley allowed herself to follow the salesgirl. Elise heard rustling coming from the back of the store and a few moments later the salesgirl and Ashley popped out.

“Alright mom here is dress number one”

Ashley was wearing a pink frilly dress with stars imprinted on the seams of the dress, her hair was tied into a simple ponytail with a red ribbon. Her overall appearance was of an adorable little doll and several customers in the shop could not help but glance over and sigh in amazement. Ashley nervous looked at Elise who did not say a word but fished out a gold coin from the bag and said,

“Buy it”

The salesgirl took Ashley to the back of the store to see the second dress, when she returned Elise’s heart melted on the spot. Ashley was wearing a plain midnight black dress similar to the one she was wearing. When they stood together even though both clearly had different features the bond between mother and child was still present.

In the afternoon of the shop, a familiar pattern emerged from the wealthy tycoon visiting it.

“Alright here is dress number two”

“Buy it!”

“Here is dress number three”

“Buy it!”

“Here is dress number ….”

“Buy it!”

“Buy it!”

“Buy it!”

The store had never seen a woman who spent money like this ever before. As the mother and daughter pair exited the store, the salesgirl saw them off wearing an enormous grin and even had tears in her eyes. She must have used up all the luck of her ancestors to allow this big Buddha to arrive at her temple. The commission she earned was enormous, the wealthy mother ended up buying a total of twenty different expensive dresses and additional ribbons.

She thought a woman like that would have servants waiting outside to handle the bags of clothes, but Elise simply picked up the multiple bags and left as if there was no weight attached to her arms.

Ashley was a little bit tired but tried to keep up, she eventually started to yawn, and Elise glanced at her and picked her up and placed her on her back to rest.

They should probably find an inn for the night as she did not plan to have anyone with her when she left the capitol, her knights were waiting at a village outside the capitol to escort her back to the north dukedom. The village was a roughly seven-hour trek but looking at the sleepy girl next to her, she decided against making the walk today. Elise exited the noble section and walked in the direction of the local adventure guild.

There were always inns to be found near the location of a guild to serve as rest points for the guards or adventures. Magic beasts were rarely found near the capitol, so the adventure guild here was more symbolic and mostly fulfilled miscellaneous requests.

Elise carefully observed the surroundings, even the richer parts of the common area were nothing compared to the noble section. She saw warriors clad in armour, mages with billowing cloaks and peasants and farmers wearing simple tunics. It was a melting pot of different races as there were elves, dwarves, fairies and changelings walking and laughing with one another. This was no surprise as the kingdom of Eternia followed the national religion of the Church of Light.

The church of light believed that some races were inherently good as they were blessed with the gift of mana which allowed them to use magic power and those who did not possess mana were abandoned by god and should be exterminated for his grace and everlasting glory. None of the demon-kin, dark elves, the mermen or any similarly mana-less races could be found in the kingdom’s capitol as the imperial knights would put them to death. Several crusades of slaughter had occurred and hence all dark races on the continent tended to avoid the Eternia kingdom.

This was a sharp contrast to the northern territories where the constant wave of magic beast attacks meant that any able-bodied person regardless of race was of assistance when defending the land. Of course, they could not openly flaunt this fact to the rest of the kingdom, but it was an open secret that some Elise’s officers were rumored to be of the dark races. Even her violet eyes were a cause of suspicion were it not for the overwhelming amount of mana flowing through her veins.

Elise walked slowly enjoying the sights until she found a charming little inn called ‘The Dragon Pride’, the inn was in good condition from the outside and when she walked in, she was pleasantly surprised to find it empty.

‘One room for two please,” Elise spoke to the innkeeper. The friendly old man at the desk nodded silently and placed a key in her hands. A room at the inn cost about three silvers a night, not particularly cheap but Elise could afford the price, so she did not try to haggle. She walked upstairs and turned the key and entered the small one bedroom room, she placed Ashley on the bed and then settled down next to her.

It was quite a long day and Elise was tired and ready to go to bed, as she lay down on the bed and saw two little eyes staring at her in the darkness. Elise could tell a myriad of thoughts were flashing through Ashley’s head. “Go to sleep,” she whispered.

The pair of eyes closed but the little body next to here was tense and clearly on edge. Elise did not know what to do but remembered her wet nurse used to sing her a song as she slept. Her mouth opened and the clear melody filled the room with a warm atmosphere.

“Little baby one can dream, of the journey and the destiny”

“The moon darkens, and the sun stays bright”

“I will be by your side tonight”

Slowly the breathing noises next to her began to quiet down and the small girl turned around and fell into her embrace. Gentle snores came from Ashley’s mouth, Elise looked at the small girl and kissed her softly on the top of her head.