The Devil Duchess Adopts The Villainess - Chapter 1 The carriage ride in the capital

A magnificent carriage swiftly rode down the cobble streets of the capital city of Austriale, it looked extremely eye catching as the exterior was painted in the purple and gold colours and a house crest was resting under the side window signifying ownership by a noble house. The crest was terrifying to look at as it had two wolves snarling at each other with a scarlet blood moon in the background.

A woman sat in the carriage with her eyes gently closed and sunlight streaming down onto her face illuminating her with a slow glow. She seemed almost like a fairy untouched by the filth of the mortal world. The scene seemed tranquil and like a painting if not for the shivering man seated opposite her. The woman gently exhaled and opened the slits of her eyes and said quietly,” It has been awhile since I last visited the capital for a royal assembly, I must offer my thanks for escorting me Sir. Damien.”

” Nnn-not..not.. not at all!”, the man stammered out. The women then closed her eyes and did not speak again. The man also turned quiet but despite his best efforts, he turned his head almost involuntarily to look at the woman opposite him. She was a perfect beauty with gorgeous black locks, a curvaceous figure and a soft appealing voice.

However, the man dared not look to closely for her eyes gave away her true nature. Those violet eyes of hers held no emotion when talking to him, they seemed almost to look at him as one would gaze at an object or an animal.

Even if he had nine lives, he would not dare to have inappropriate thoughts on the woman before him. Her fearsome reputation in the numerous wars fought in the northern territories frightened the pudgy nobleman. His fears were unfounded as the lady paid no attention to the man as she was currently reminiscing on a strange dreams that she had been having for the last couple of weeks.

She could only remember vivid flashes like a hazy fog as scene after scene of an unfamiliar life played out before her. She was in a strange building with people wearing the same clothing as her. She glanced down at her hands and instead of the familiar scars and callous, she saw the smooth unblemished hands of a young girl.

She looked around for help, but everyone seemed to be speaking in a language unknown to her. A faceless girl suddenly smiled and laughed next to her and showed her a book that was in her hand. The book’s title was ‘My Overbearing Tyrant King’ and had a pretty brown haired girl next to a dashingly handsome young man with blonde hair wearing a crown on the cover. The girl seemed fragile like a doll and the man appeared overbearing and powerful as he wrapped his arms around her protectively.

In her dream she laughed with the faceless girl and spoke words in a language that she could not understand. An unexpected ringing noise came from all around her and the girl next to her stood up and proceeded towards the door. Having no clue where she was, she decided to follow the faceless girl. As they walked along a corridor suddenly a strange large object fell towards her, she quickly pushed away the faceless girl and all she could see was red. The dream ended abruptly after this.

Elise furrowed her brows imperceptibly, “What was that dream about?”. In the following days, the strange dream would repeat itself over and over again. Every time she entered, no matter what actions she took it would lead to her pushing the faceless girl out of the way of the object and the death of her in the dream. Elise became restless and more impatient than usual as she began to barely sleep.

It was a never ending cycle of death and awakening.

Her servants noticed and began to avoid her in fear of attracting her ire. When she received a plain letter with the crest of the royal family stamped on with an invitation to an assembly, she decided on the spot to go. Truthfully the amount of times Lady Elise had attended an assembly could probably be counted on one hand, but she knew that she needed the trip to unwind and hopefully forget about the strange dreams that she had been having.

She peered through the window and gazed at the scenery that flew by, the houses were poorly made and looked dilapidated. Men, women and children had hungry looks and their faces, and they gazed at the carriage with a mixture of fear and hatred. They wore clothes that bore holes within and exposed their thin sickly figures to the weather outside.

She frowned as she saw the poverty surrounding her, “Has the capital gotten so bad already? I thought with the recent dealings the Eternia Kingdom made with the high elves gave us plenty of goods and wealth, we should have enough money to fix these issues”, she asked Damien.

The nobleman shrugged as he showed a clear look of disinterest in his eyes when looking at the people outside .The state of her own territory appeared to be miles ahead of the capital, so Elise was slightly confused as the carriage ride continued.

The carriage slowed down to a halt as it approached a spectacular golden gate, that marked the end of the common folk area and the nobility residences. A muscular guard with a handlebar moustache approached the carriage. He wore a white armour and coat with the symbol a sun and moon on the back of his coat.

Elise eyes flashed and her mouth hooked up slightly with a grin as she detected a faint trace of magic power within the guard. The so-called royal knights, were made up of children who had naturally strong magic power within them, often ripped from their parents to become soldiers for the royalty. This was seen as an honour and the parents’ silence would be bought either with coin or death.

“Papers and identification please!” he ordered in an arrogant tone. Elise reached within her dress and pulled out her family seal to hand to the driver. The soldier looked at the symbol of the crest and paused momentarily. He gazed slightly at the inside of the carriage but could not see through the curtains. He stood there for a minute thinking to himself but eventually waved his hands and let the carriage pass through the golden archway. Elise clutched her arm tightly as dark marks almost like tattoos began to swirl around her skin.

“Be quiet, there’s no sense in acting up when you and I both know that we could kill him in a heartbeat.”, Elise whispered quietly seemingly to herself. She gently unfurled her arm and the dark marks had disappeared almost as if they were never there in the first place. Damien had not even noticed the commotion as he was smiling happily at the sight of the noble residences before him.

Elise gazed at the sights before her and frowned in disgust, the difference between the common area and the noble residence was one of night and day. Huge mansions with golden doors, steps and fountains lined a clean street. Nobles stood around wearing fancy dresses and shirts with expensive jewels and accessories lining their hands, feet and necks. It almost seemed like a different world to the city outside the gate.

The air seemed crisp and clean with beautiful flowers and trees planted between the mansions. Elise looked at the people and saw no trace of hardship or starvation, their hands were soft and clean with most having slightly overweight bodies.

“My lady, do you enjoy the sight? It’s quite lovely compared to the filth and swine we saw on the way here”, Damien spoke suddenly. Elise turned to him and spoke in a soft but cold tone,” Yes there is certainly a difference in how the nobles in the capital treat them”. The carriage ride proceeded in silence as there was now a slightly awkward atmosphere. Soon they finally entered their destination, the imperial royal palace. “Well, it has been lovely travelling with you Lady Elise, but I forgive me as I go ahead.” Damien hurriedly spoke as he dashed from the carriage with his thick frame moving surprisingly quickly.

Elise watched him go towards the palace entrance and slowly walked down the carriage door and onto to the soft fresh grass underneath. She walked towards the palace at a casual pace and admired the design of the building. Even compared to the luxurious mansions of the noble residences, the imperial palace stood out. It was immensely huge and tall where one would have to crane her neck to see the top of the spires that jutted out towards the heavens.

The road leading to the palace was entirely paved with gold and beautiful sculptures of animals, monsters and beasts were sprinkled throughout the garden. The assembly today was to be held in the king’s audience chamber which was spacious enough to fill all the members of both the lower and the upper nobility.

Being slightly late did not seem to bother Elise as she confidently walked pass the bowing guards. She tried hard to remember what exactly the reason for the assembly was but eventually just assumed it couldn’t be that important. She simply here for a small vacation so she would simply attend for a bit then explore the shops around the capitol.

Little did she know hours later she would be the newly adopted mother of the novel’s most terrible and cruel villainess.