The remaining 2 days of subjugation went the same, we would leave at sunrise and split into 5 groups each group would cover 1 direction in a circular formation, always staying within 2km of the next group.
The first day I stuck to support but after hearing praises from the knight on how impressive I was, by the second day I was using my abilities to my advantage, slicing their heads clean off with wind magic and impaling them in the heart with ice magic.
I couldn't use any form of fire magic as that would set the forest on fire and destroy the coat of the monsters.
Just like theo said, the corpse of the monsters we left behind the previous days were always gone by the next expedition.
He said the forest absorbs them whole leaving nothing behind. Since I realized that I wasn't destroying the ecosystem I decided not to hold back.
I was in the middle of battle, but I was having so much fun, and just like everything has a starting point an end was drawing closer to our battle.
It's was finally the last day of the 5 days expedition and the knights were drinking and dining just laughing and having fun around the campfire.
I decided to go to the tent first to give them some alone time, when Theo walked in.
"My dear are you okay?" He sat on the chair opposite me.
"I'm just a little sad the trip is over, I enjoyed leaving the castle and experiencing something new for the first time" he smiled holding my hand and kissing it.
"Then let's come back together next year, we also have small monster subjugation for monsters that leave the forest and come close to the northern walls but it's usually handled by the knights."
He is always so supportive I know brinhing me here was hard for him but he still respected my wishes. When we get back to the castle I'll confess how I feel to him, I'm tired of running away from my feelings.
"Your grace, it's sir cavill. Please I would like to have a word with you." Cavill had been extremely quiet since our last talk, it seems he was really regretting his decision but this was something I planned to deal with when we get back.
"What do you want dear? I can send him away if you aren't comfortable around him"
"It's fine my love, let's hear what he has to say"
"Come in sir cavill"
He walked in with a somber look and he knelt down.
"Your grace, i was wrong. Please forgive me, I'm sorry that I caused you grief, but everything I did was to protect his grace. I was by his side for 20 years and I became a knight to be his sword that strikes down his enemies. I was wrong, I made a mistake by judging you rashly, please forgive this lowly knight" I could feel the sincerity in every word, I knew he didn't it for a honorable cause but I hate the fact that he knows something so private about me.
"Sir cavill, what did you do to my wife again? I forgave you once but you keep crossing the line. I don't care if you picked your sword for me..." it was the first time i heard that tone from theo, I had only seen his indifferent or loving side but hearing how cold his voice cold be and how icy his face could be sent shivers down my spine.
"Theo....." he turned to me and his expression softened
"I'm sorry..... did I scare you?" I guess I must have been making a face.
"Its fine my love, i just found out that sir cavill ran a background check on me without permission." Theo looked confused as Cavill glanced between us.
"His grace gave me permission your grace, although i had to beg him for it and he reluctantly agreed"
I turned to theo not wanting to believe Cavill
"Is that true my love?"
"Yes ..... but it was because Cavill....."
"Both of you..... leave the tent now..." I cut him off.
"Clarisa please let me..." he tried to grab my hand but I slapped him off
"Will you leave or should I?" He stood up saying he would give me some space but we needed to talk.
In my past life whenever my friend had an issue with her boyfriend, I would always be so angry at her for asking for space instead of talking it out. I would silently think that if I started dating I would never let misunderstanding happen due to miscommunication. So I had adapted that mindset in my marriage to theo. Each time I needed information from him I asked, when I needed something I asked. So why...why.....why.....why the hell would he do this to me? I told him the truth. Did he really not believe me? Was that why he needed to double check with strangers against my word?
It's hurts so much... I didn't want to cry..... but....but... it hurts so much... it's hurts because I trusted him blindly and I thought he did the same for me. So when he said he believed me, when he said he had my back, when he said he was always on my side, were those lies too?
It's hurts so much.....Theo is usually the one who holds me when I'm hurting, so now that he has hurt me...who will hold and comfort me? I'm suddenly all alone in a cold world.
Theodore sat outside the tent in a daze unsure what to do.
"I'm sorry your grace, i thought her grace was aware it was your order." Cavill hung his head feeling horrible that he had caused the two to fight.
"It's not your fault sir cavill I shpuld never have let you do the investigation, better still I should have told her, you are dismissed sir cavill"
"Your grace...." he placed his hand on theodores shoulder.
"Just go cavill, it's not your fault"
Theodore sat outside the tent listening for when clarisa would call out to him, he knew he had no excuse for keeping something so big from her as he knew it was a sore spot for her. At first there were no sounds, but then she started to sob quietly.
As a sword master he had heightened senses so even though her sobs were quiet, he could hear them ringing in his head.
He stood up and ran to the entrance of the tent but stopped there, he clenched his teeth and hands knowing what she wanted from him was a little space to process her feelings.
He would run in and hug her begging her to beat him up instead of crying, but he knew he couldn't decide how she should deal with the hurt and betrayal she was feeling.
It broke him that he was the one who was causing her so much grief.
Clark walked down a dark hallway as lights flickered on and off, in the distance a shadowy figure stands waiting for him. He stopped, trying to make out what the figure was. The figure leapt for him landing on him and pushing him to the ground, it was a disfigured and bloodied count dumont , he wrapped his hand around Clark's neck.
"You did this to me..... you monster..... you murderer..... you did this to me..... die.....die.....die..."
"No I'm sorry, I did it to protect Bella. I couldn't let Bella suffer..... I'm sorry father...." Clark was crying trying to wrestle the hand from his neck.
"Clark...Clark....wake up" Clark sprang up from bed sweating profusely as Arabella strokes his back comforting him.
"Its fine my dear, it was a dream.....it was only a dream" he turned to her regaining his vision. He hadn't told her how his father had truly died because he didn't want her to share in his guilt.
He may have felt guilty but he knew if he had a chance to repeat that day he would do it over again without thinking twice.
The knights were busy packing up camp as it was time to set off back home.
They had wondered why his grace spent the whole night sitting outside his tent but their worries were gone when they saw how naturally the duke and duchess interacted.
It took them about 2 hours to finish packing up and doing the final head count before they set off home.
"It will take us about 5 hours to get to the northern walls, if a monster appears while we are enroute, groups 2 and 3 will take point breaking it down while groups 4 and 5 assists them"
"Yes your grace"
Although I'm angry at him, i don't want our personal life to be aired out to his knights. I'll pretend everything is fine for now and when we get back to the castle, he had better have a good reason for why he deceieved me.
He has been sneaking glances at me all day like some lost puppy that was abandoned by his master but I refuse to fall for his pitiful act.
As for sir cavill i'll let Hannah handle him, I trust her to really stick it to him.
Just like theo said it took us about 5 hours to get to the northern walls, there were no monster attacks on our way which was a huge relief.
We had to take a break after entering the gates to do another head count and drop off the supplies with the staff that work there. It took us another 3 hours before we arrived at the castle gates.
All the staff and families of the knights were gathered at the gates.
"Welcome back protectors of the northern walls." they all echoed bowing towards us.
At this moment it finally dawned on me, I just partook in the protection of these people and the place they call home, I felt a new emotions brewing in me. It was a sense of pride in my accomplishment, it was the first time I truly put my abilities to good use and it felt really amazing to be appreciated for it.
The knights all began to go with their respective families as theo had instructed them to take the next 2 days off.
"Welcome back my dear" mother and father had their hands stretched out and I ran into it hugging them tightly. My fight with theo was one thing but right now I just needed a comforting warmth.
"I'm back mother and father" i wanted to cry.... I wanted to vent but this was such a happy moment I couldn't ruin it.
"Welcome back your grace" Stefan, Sarah, Hannah, Stella, Maria, even the gardener and cooks were all out here to welcome us. It felt so fulfilling.
"Welcome back son, thank you for coming back safely" mother pats theo on the head and father pats him on the back they must have noticed he was looking sad and wanted to try cheer him up.
We walked into the castle but i noticed that mother and father were looking a bit downcast.
"Mother, father did something bad happen?" They turned to me solemnly, leading us into a room and gesturing for us to sit down.
Theo sat beside me and although I wanted to push him away, I knew it was better for me to be reasonable.
"I know it would be reasonable to tell you this after you have rested and relaxed but it's better you hear it from us than from someone else" I couldn't understand why mother was suddenly being cryptic.
"Clarisa....a black flag arrived from the dumont household 4 days ago" i tried not to let my emotions show, as I feared for the worst case scenario.... Arabella...Clark... did count dumont finally do it?
"Who is it?" Mother and father stared at each other before each taking my hand.
"It was your father count dumont" I didn't know i was holding my breath till I let out a sigh of relief.
"We are here for you if you need anything dear" father's squeezed my hand lightly.
"Oh..... I'm fine mother, father thank you for worrying about me. Did they say how he passed away?" They let go of my hand confused at how calm i was but I didn't want to start explaining why I was.
"He passed away in his office, it was suspected he had a heart attack"
"So he died peacefully... what a joke." The words came out before I could stop them and the room was stunned silent... dammit.