The Duke's Passion

Florence didn't have the time to react to what was coming at her. All she could do was stare at the galloping horse coming at her while her breath hitched.

"Your Majesty!"

Silvia didn't think twice as she leaped from her steed to Florence. Everything happened so fast that she simply acted out of instinct. With her arms securing the empress's head, both of them rolled on the ground while their own steeds ran away after getting startled.

But Florence's steed ran over Silvia, who used her body as Florence's shield. Silvia could only grit her teeth as the pain didn't come instantly. Instead, all she could think about was whether the empress was safe.

As the dust ambled up by the galloping horses, Silvia drew her head back. She was under Florence, which to her relief.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

Florence grunted, feeling a bit sore from what had happened. However, she was overall safe and inflicted minor injuries, thanks to Silvia. She tried to push herself up, a bit confused at the sudden turn of events.

"Ye — yes, I am," came out a weak voice, getting off of Silvia.

"Thank goodness..." A sigh of relief slipped past Silvia's lips, gazing at the canopies shading her face.

"Lady Silvia, are you alright?" Worried, Florence studied Silvia before she sniffed. "You're bleeding."

"Oh, it's nothing." Silvia laughed before she winced, feeling something on her back. "What is important was you're alright."

She propped her elbows on the ground, pushing herself to sit up. As she did, she shut her eyes as her vision shook.

"Lady Silvia!" Florence stopped from touching her as blood trickled down on the side of Silvia's head. "You're bleeding..."

"It's fine, Your Majesty." Silvia opened one of her eyes, touching her temple. She didn't dwell on the physical pain too much as she turned her head to where the horses went.

"What happened?" she wondered under her breath, brows wrinkling. "How can a horse run rampant like that?"

While Silvia wondered about the source of the incident, Florence was staring at her. The latter bit her lower lip, feeling sorry that she was hurt protecting her.

"Lady --" her eyes fell on the ground behind Silvia, wide-eyed. Blood was starting to pool on where she was sitting, following the trail, and noticed the huge rock that had blood on it.

She wasn't stupid to put the pieces together. Silvia hit her head while protecting her. The bruises on her arms and the footprints on her clothes gave away that the horse ran over her.

Before Florence could panic or get out of her shock, she heard the sound of galloping horses approaching them. She turned and saw Rufus and Heliot galloping towards them. For reasons unknown, Florence clutched her hand close to her chest as soon as she saw the dark expression on her husband.

"Silvia!" called Rufus, making Silvia snap her eyes in their direction. She narrowed her eyes, vision slightly blurry.

"I think I hit my head a bit hard," she grumbled, massaging her temple as her head throbbed.

It didn't take long when the emperor and his entourage came close. Rufus instantly jumped from his steed, rushing toward them. Heliot also did the same while the rest came after the horses that were on the loose.

His eyes dilated upon seeing Silvia up close, pupils constricting as he squatted down. "Silvia, are you alright?"

"Uh, yes... Your Majesty. Just a bit dizzy, but..." Her body swayed. Fortunately, Rufus held her shoulders. "... I hit my head a bit, but I'm fine. Why is that horse running like crazy?"

"Don't think about that for now." He breathed out, staring at the blood trickling down on her. His gaze fell on the ground before catching the huge rock that was stained with blood.

Florence instantly caught how Rufus's jaw tightened while his eyes exuded murderous intent. And yet, every time his eyes landed on Silvia, there was a hint of genuine worry and concern. It was as if Silvia was the only person in his eyes.

'She's injured, so of course, he is worried,' she told herself, making sense why her husband looked at another woman — a married woman — like that.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" she snapped her eyes, peeling them away from Rufus to Heliot. "Are you hurt?"

"No, Your Highness. I am alright thanks to Lady Silvia."

"Prince Heliot, take the empress back to her tent and call for someone to look after her," Rufus ordered without casting his wife a look. "Via, come. Yulis will throw a huge fit if something happened to you."

He assisted herself up, holding her shoulder while Silvia was clinging on to his sleeve. Since she was a little dizzy, as if her brain just rolled thousand times inside her skull, she just accepted the helping hand reaching out to her.

If she was in a better state, there was no way Silvia would accept his help. Not because she had lingering bitterness left for Rufus, but for Florence's sake.

"Wait, wait. Slow down..." Silvia clutched his shoulder, getting even dizzier by the second. "I'm..."

And she collapsed. Thanks to Rufus' fast reflexes, he caught her body in time.

"Prince Heliot," he called, raising his head and darted his eyes from Florence to Heliot. "I entrust the empress to you. I will take the marchioness to safety."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Heliot tilted his head down. He watched Rufus carry Silvia in his arms as he hitched his steed, and galloped away as if she would die. Seeing this, Heliot set his eyes back to his sister.

"Your Majesty, shall we?"

"Why?" Florence inquired, eyes glued on Rufus's steed. "I am not hurt, I know. And Lady Silvia saved me from danger whilst risking hers. Obviously, His Majesty will be more worried about her. But… why?"

"Your Majesty."

This time, she set her eyes on him. "Why did you choose me to marry him, Your Highness? To marry someone… who will never give me affection."

There was a long silence between them. His eyes studied the millions of unspoken words in his sister's eyes, but he was unfazed by it.

"That's why." He pointed at her. "You are smart, Florence. You should let go of your ridiculous fantasies and just live as a Von Stein. You will not survive this world if all you can think about is being a wife."

Cruel as he was, Heliot didn't feel sorry for telling her the truth. This world was far more cruel and Florence… was too kind for it. Seeing that no matter what she would do, it would not move the emperor was enough to teach her a lesson.

Not about love, but about herself. That there were certain things one could never have.

Which led to the present time...

"Let's divorce, Your Majesty."