The Duke's Masked Wife

"Did she just slap Crystal? There's a lot of violence going on, isn't there? At least the attention will be off of you now. I need something to cool off from everything happening," Alessandra touched her forehead to calm her thoughts and walked off from Edgar's side.

Edgar followed behind her to make sure no one would ask her ridiculous questions about what happened tonight or anything else. "Are you going to look for alcohol? I could do with a glass full."

"No. I would love juice instead. I saw that they were passing around small cakes. I am craving a lot of sweet things right now," Alessandra bit her tongue as she imagined how the cakes must taste.

"There is tension in the air yet what is on your mind is sweets. You shouldn't have so many sweet things right now. Your teeth will ache."

"Just one slice," Alessandra held up one finger. It couldn't hurt to enjoy a slice of cake and juice. The cakes look appetizing so she did not understand why no one was rushing to eat them. "You should try one too."

"I am not a fan of sweet things. Instead of a sweet juice, you should eat it with a glass of water instead."

Alessandra was appalled that her husband of all people did not enjoy sweets. She loved them. During the winter time, her father would add some of the sweet candy or pastries they had on display in the house to the side of her dinner. It was something she had to look forward to each time winter came since she did not attend the parties hosted by her family or went along with them to parties they were invited to.

"Here please," Alessandra called out to a servant passing by with the cakes. "There are so many to choose from," she said as her eyes went to the red, chocolate, and vanilla ones with different decorations.

In the end, she chose a vanilla one for herself and a chocolate one for Edgar.

After the servant left, Edgar stood with his plate of a half-eaten slice of chocolate cake that he did not eat.  "Did you just use me to get two flavors?" Edgar asked right as she used her fork to take off a piece of what was meant to be his cake.

"I can't convince you to eat it if it is not something that you like so to not let it go to waste, I will eat it for you," Alessandra stated then placed the fork in her mouth, almost dancing from how delicious it tasted.

"You did not even try to convince me to try it and see if I would like it. You went straight to eating it. You'll need a lot of water after this," said Edgar.

"I won't disagree with you about the water but it is not as sweet as it looks. It is amazing how after a punch and two slaps the party has gone back to normal," Alessandra replied.

Alessandra looked around the room at everyone either chatting, dancing, or just enjoying being around family. If she had arrived late she would have never guessed that someone was punched to the brink of death a while ago and there was a slap resembling lightning striking through the sky. It was unfortunate Crystal and Daniel were both going home with bruises they needed to tend to.

"Give me some," Edgar opened his mouth for her to feed him. It was the least she could do while he stood here holding a plate he was not eating from.

"You are like a child," Alessandra shook her head but she still broke off a piece of the cake with her fork to feed him.

She had gotten to try two flavors because of him. When she thought no one was looking, she kept eating what was meant to be his cake as she did not want anyone to see she was eating more than needed. Alessandra did not want the pregnancy talk to come up again.

Edgar didn't see what was so good about the sweet cake and rejected it the second time she tried feeding him. Like clockwork, an idea to make her cheeks turn red came to his mind. "I believe it would taste much better if I had the chance to eat it right off of you rather than the fork."

Alessandra frantically patted her chest as the piece of cake she had put into her mouth when Edgar was speaking nearly choked her. She coughed, getting herself under control, and glared at Edgar for mentioning such a thing. Why on earth would anyone want to eat food off another person?

Alessandra's cheeks felt warm when she imagined what it would look like.

"Is inside too hot?"

Alessandra's panic increased when she heard Rose's voice and turned around to hide her appearance from her. She did not want to have to state that it was Edgar who caused her to turn red and not the temperature in the room. If she could, she would throw the little piece of cake she had left at Edgar.

"I opened up the windows to let the cool air come in. Should I open up the ones in the other room?" Rose contemplated.

"It is alright, grandmother. Alessandra is just a little embarrassed about something she confessed to me. She told me she loved me even more after what happened with punching Daniel," Edgar whispered.

'What?" Alessandra internally screamed. Why was mister I don't care about love mentioning it and lying about who said it?

Alessandra turned around to explain herself and expose the truth but she found herself being pulled against Edgar's chest to silence what she had to say.

"It is nothing to be embarrassed about dear. Tell your husband that you love him every chance you get. That reminds me," Rose clapped her hands, excited about something. "I should be the one to hear how the two of you managed to fall in love and get married. Tell me the story and don't leave out any details."

'Oh no," Alessandra thought and felt her body turn cold all of a sudden. They had never come up with a story because they both did not care to explain it.

How were they to say it started with a contract, Edgar killed her father, they started living together and developed feelings but remove all the bad parts and the contract no one was supposed to know about? How could they switch that story to a love story without making an old woman's heart crumble?