The Duke's Masked Wife

"I wish the two of you could stay a bit longer. I would love to get to know more about Alessandra."

"We need to leave now to catch up with Alfred and the others and so we'll be back home in Lockwood before the sun rises. It is not like you will not see us soon. We will return for your annual winter party or not, depending on who is there. Goodbye grandmother," Edgar kissed Rose's forehead.

"Daniel and Crystal are not welcomed back here so you have no reason not to show up later for your birthday. You'll make him come, right dear?"  Rose looked to Alessandra for help since she was easier to convince than stubborn Edgar.

"I will," Alessandra replied.

"Good. Go away, Edgar. I need to speak to your wife about something private," Rose shooed him away. She had a special gift she had been holding onto for years. One that Edmund begged to be given to Priscilla but she hid.

Alessandra watched the butler bring out a box and hand it to Rose after Edgar had walked away. She remembered Rose mentioning a gift.

"You didn't take the family ring passed down to Edgar but I am hoping you will love this. It was given to me by my mother when I married. She got it from her mother and so on. It's to celebrate a new chapter in our life," Rose said, then opened the box to reveal a bracelet with a charm resembling a book. "Styles changed so I wouldn't expect a young person such as yourself to love it but it must rightfully be passed down to you," she handed the box to Alessandra.

"I love it. Thank you," Alessandra accepted the bracelet from Rose. "I will make sure to keep it safe to be passed down."

"Make sure you wear it too. Especially when Edgar's mother is around. It'll drive that crazy bird up a wall," Rose chuckled.

"I see," Alessandra decided to just smile since she preferred to avoid Priscilla rather than try to make her angry. The woman had already killed Jennifer so what was to stop her from coming after her daughter-in-law she despised?

"Now hurry off before the cold air gets you sick. Next time you must travel with a coat to avoid being sick. When the weather is like this here it means it has started to snow in Lockwood and it will soon start snowing here. Be careful on your way back," said Rose.

"We will."

Alessandra had a warm feeling in her chest as she walked down to the carriage where Edgar was waiting for her. During this trip, she got a glimpse of what it was like to have a grandmother and she would cherish the moments though she would make plenty more in the future.

Alessandra entered the carriage with Edgar's help and unlike when they had departed Lockwood to travel here, the two sat right next to each other without any ploys being made to get Alessandra to go beside Edgar.

"She gave me a bracelet passed down by the women in her family," Alessandra informed Edgar in case he was curious about it.

"Hmm," Edgar replied. "That means if our first child were to be a boy, we would have to keep trying until we get a girl as there are many things you need to pass down."

Alessandra shook her head and said, "Not happening."

She was hardly thinking about the one heir that was promised in the now-forgotten contract so more children weren't in the plan right now. Besides, it wasn't like they had started the process to be concerned about how many children they would have.

"The wonderful thing about making a child is the surprise of what gender the child will be. And I told you that I have too many properties for just one child to manage."

Alessandra wasn't falling for his tricks and replied, "You alone manage all of them so it shouldn't be that hard."

Edgar smiled, highly amused she thought anyone else could be like him even if it was his offspring. "Our children should be thankful to have the genes of a wonderful man like me who is beyond comparison but I am afraid they will never measure up to my greatness. They shall reach close with numerous training."

"It is scary how you went from only wanting an heir to many children. I expected you to dislike them," said Alessandra.

"Oh but I do. Such useless little things when they just scream at their most fragile stage. They just eat, shit, and bother ears with their cries. We are nothing more than their maids," Edgar said, annoyed just by the thought of it. "There is nothing worse than the product of two people who annoy me. It is why my home hardly has children in it or I rarely visit my friend's homes until their children learn to keep quiet."

Alessandra had a lot of things running through her mind but she didn't want to ask them. Instead, she asked, "Does that mean I should prepare for you to ship off our child," she stressed the word child as she was only planning to have one single. "Somewhere?"

"No," Edgar quickly replied. He clearly remembered how lonely the schools his mother shipped him off to because she had no time for a child were. The only thing he found to be entertaining was making the people there lives miserable until the day Alfred arrived and took him home.

He went back and forth for years, returning home only to be sent back by his mother until his father put an end to it. Due to his strained relationship with his parents, Rose handed him the home he now owned and Alfred raised Edgar there as his guardian until Edgar came of age to legally inherit the home.

Edgar inherited many things from his grandparents and quite a few from his parents. Not wanting to ever need his parents for anything, he worked hard to increase his wealth past many of his relatives, especially his parents.

"Then I will enjoy the cries while you stay far away. I happen to love children. Had my life gone right, I wouldn't have minded teaching children how to paint. It is not too late but I feel as time goes on there will be a lot for me to do as a Duchess. Perhaps I would do it once in a while and invite children to our home to torture you," Alessandra seriously considered it.

"Then you will see how talented my guards are at literally throwing people out," Edgar replied. He had no problem kicking a child out of his home. If they did not share his blood, they had the high possibility of finding their behinds on the ground.

"How are you like this but then want me to give you many children? Do you expect them to skip the crying stage and go to where you can tell them to shut up?" Alessandra asked, curious about where Edgar's logic stood when it came to this.

"Obviously our children would not be like the other little ones that I despise. I have the tolerance to deal with my own. I hope," Edgar added as he recalled how Benjamin worked in the shop to get away from his children. "My opinion might change once we become parents but that is far away in the future. Lay your head here," he patted his lap. "We have a long ride back."

This one time Alessandra could not argue with him as she was tired from the eventful day they had. She laid her head against Edgar's lap and said, "It would be nice if the ridiculous rumors about me have passed in my absence and all of my father's family have returned to where they came from. I do not want to see any of them."

"And you do not have to," Edgar said as he stroked her hair. He already knew that news of their marriage would make many of her relatives reach out to her but that did not mean they would ever be able to. No one got past his gates without his consent and if necessary, he would place more guards around her for when she wanted to leave home.

Edgar would not let annoying people make Alessandra have to hide in their home to avoid them. Clark was already a pain in the ass and if more Barretts tried ruining the peace Alessandra found he wouldn't hesitate to make Barrett's name be forgotten.

He was well aware of how much Alessandra would be afraid of the consequences of his actions but with his money and power, it was hard for him to be thrown into jail. If he was, it wouldn't be long before Alfred or Tobias destroyed the jail and freed him. He tried to stick to his morals and not abuse the power he had when it came to killing others but for the woman who had pushed herself into his life with an amusing proposal, he'd wreck the kingdom to keep her happy and protected.

Perhaps the world wanted him against marriage and love because it already knew the chaos that would follow after anyone tried to harm his woman.