Rosie's Games

Chapter 158: Robbery Gone Wrong 3

"You— What do you think you're doing!?" Fraunces's expression immediately changed.

"Since Dame Fraunces learned archery at a very young age, I am certain that you must have learned how to avoid an arrow in what…. a week? No…" Rosalind smirked. "A week is too long. Make it a day. The Dame must have learned how to avoid arrows in a day, right?"

Looking back, she really should not have saved this woman from that Clinton Moller.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Depends…" Rosalind responded. "Do you feel threatened?" josei

"What?" Fraunces snorted. "Why would someone like you threaten me?"

"Exactly." Rosalind lowered the bow. "Why would someone like me, scare you?"

"You— Who told you that I am scared?"

Rosalind snorted in response. Then she aimed her arrow at the target board. She let go and, as expected, missed the target.

"If that was human… " Rosalind looked back at Fraunces. "It would have been dead by now. I would have missed the heart- but not the head."

With that, she handed the bow to the Duke and left.

The moment she left, the Duke glanced at Fraunces and frowned.

"What?" Fraunces asked.

"I told you to go to your father. You may leave ahead of us."

"Are you really going to make me leave just because of that woman?" she asked.

"Is there anything that I can and cannot do with my own people?"

"Hmph! Don't think for a second that I do not know what you are trying to hide," Fraunces said.

The Duke lifted an eyebrow. Then he gestured for everyone to leave. Seeing this, Fraunces got down from the carriage and approached him.

"I know what she is," Fraunces continued, she lifted her head and stared at the Duke. "She's a sorcerer. She must be the one who broke that barrier and attracted the wolves. She's working for you, isn't she?"

The Duke narrowed his eyes at her.

"What is with that look?" Fraunces said. "I know she told you to get rid of me, she must hate me so much. So, I will not— "

Fraunces' words were interrupted when Lucas showed her a dagger.

"Do you know what the difference is between you and those bandits?" he suddenly asked.

"What?" What bandits?

"They died without knowing who the real enemy was," the Duke said before he disappeared. Fraunces flinched and looked around. "From the start, they were meant to die without knowing the face of their killer and they did."

"Y— Your Grace?" What bandits? What killer? Just what was the Duke talking about?

"While you— "

Fraunces looked to her left, the Duke was there, standing next to a dead tree. He was already fifteen feet away from her. Then she glanced at the snow that separated them. The lack of footsteps made her frown.

The Duke would never show his skills to normal people.

"You on the other hand will be given a choice. You can leave now and never bother me again. Or… you stay and never speak out of turn. Again."

"Your Grace— "

**SWOOOSHHH**

Fraunces flinched as the Duke suddenly threw a dagger her way. She knew it was coming, but for some reason, she could not move, she could not avoid it. Luckily, the dagger did not kill her, however, it was close enough as it actually left a cut on her neck.

"That was a warning, Dame Fraunces. The only reason why you are still alive is because of your father and uncle. But you are still working for me. You have no right to talk as if you are someone relevant."

Again, the Duke vanished. He appeared behind her to retrieve the dagger.

"You are not relevant, Dame Fraunces. I could kill you without a second thought and drag your whole family down with you. Perhaps you thought that you were untouchable because of the General? You must have forgotten that the General will do anything that I say, and that includes if I demand your head from its neck."

Fraunces could not say a word. She wanted to argue but she knew he was telling the truth. Her uncle, the General, would do anything that the Duke asked him to do, even if that meant killing his own family.

In fact, Fraunces was able to act like this, not just because of her family, but because she grew up around the Duke. While they were not considered close, she was the only child who had seen the Duke grow up, even if it was from afar.

She thought that Duke would at least value those things, but she was wrong.

She glared at the man as he turned around and walked away without sparing her another glance. Hatred slowly consumed her insides. She knew that the Duke was planning something and she hated the fact that she had no idea what it was.

She had been working under him for years. Why could he not trust her with his plans? She glared at the carriage where Rosie was staying. That woman resembled Rosalind so much, she hated it.

Since they started traveling, Fraunces had used all sorts of methods to observe the woman. From staying in her carriage to 'accidentally' going inside her carriage while Rosie was washing her face. She did this to try and prove that Rosie was wearing some sort of wig and that she was, in fact, Rosalind Lux.

Yet, she failed every single time.

Then Rosie saved her from Clinton, she knew that Rosie had to be a Sorcerer. Almost immediately, Fraunces knew that Rosie must have changed her face to resemble Rosalind Lux and she started wondering if this was Lucas's idea. Did he ask her to change her face so he could stare at her all the time?

Jealousy started to seep into the cracks of her already broken heart. She wanted to know so badly, but the Duke would surely not say a word to her.

Now, the Duke finally put his foot down and created some boundaries with her.

She thought that this was unrealistic.

She had been with him for so many years, why would he suddenly do something like this now? Was it because of that sorceress?

She gritted her teeth. She wanted to go to the carriage and confront Rosie about everything. That woman must have known about the Duke's plans and was helping him behind the scenes. This was the only explanation that she could come up with.

For a long time, Fraunces just stood there as she tried to calm herself. No matter what, she would never leave the Duke's side. Lucas must be planning something really big this time, but he could not tell anyone about it.

That might be the reason why he suddenly wanted her to leave him, she consoled herself.

"You really are a bit slow, aren't you?"

Fraunces looked behind and realized that the person who just spoke was none other than Rosie.

Fraunces looked at the carriage and frowned, she did not see anyone leaving.

"Are you that desperate?" Rosie said.

"What?"

"You, Dame Fraunces, are a beautiful, strong woman, but, you are wasting your time following someone that does not like you and has refused to marry you. That man was generous enough to give you the option to leave, yet it seems that you are ignoring his words. Are you still going to act like he has reasons for what he said and convince yourself to stay by his side? Are you really that slow?"

"S— Slow?"

"In the head." Rosalind pointed to her temples. In her past life, Jeames never refused her advances, letting her think that he liked her too. In the end, she broke her own heart.

"How dare you!"

"You are a noble who ran around following behind the man she loves. The nobles in the North must be laughing about you behind your back."

"You— What does it have to do with you? Will you stop talking to me and mind your own business?"

"I am— " Rosie was trying to save a young maiden's heart. Soon, the Duke will marry her, and while that might not be a marriage out of love, it was still a marriage. Moreover, the Duke told her he is not planning to take concubines. This would surely affect Fraunces.

"I shouldn't care," Rosalind snorted. This woman was nothing but a nuisance to her, and yet Rosie still tried to help her. How pathetic. In her past life, she had fallen into Jeames and Dorothy's trap because of her naive thinking, believing that she could save everyone.

"Do not mind my words," Rosalind suddenly said. She approached Fraunces and touched the wound on the woman's neck. This is unlike her! What was she doing?

Fraunces flinched. "What are you doing!?"

"I can heal it, Dame Fraunces…" Rosalind removed her hand and the cut from the dagger was already gone. There were no traces, no scars. Then she smiled. She held her hand in front of Fraunces and let her see the black dagger slowly materializing from Rosalind's palms. "But the next time you antagonize me… a cursed dagger will cut your hand. You probably know what that means, right?"

....

My exams are done! I am celebrating this weekend! Yey!