Raven Blackheart was leaving the territory of the Blackheart Duchy for the first time in his life, something that even just a few weeks ago, the very thought of it filled him with dread, but now made him excited. The most pressing matter on his mind was seeing the Duchess again. For the past two weeks, Raven had been working overtime in order to clear his schedule. The Aurelium venture had new guards and management, the bandit situation in the Northwest of the Province had been dealt with, and the famine relief program was finalized and waiting on his brothers’ desk for implementation. 

 

The carriage he was in was one reserved for family members of the Duchy . It was large and sleek, with a sparkling black exterior emblazoned with the purple crest of the Blackheart Duchy. Thick black wheels with purple embroidery and an inbuilt suspension system contributed to a smooth near bump-free ride. The floor was thick carpet and there were large silk covered seats instead of the typical wooden benches. Thick curtains shaded the interior from the harsh sun outside. In all honesty, using this carriage was an inefficient method of transport. In fact, it was basically ornamental, serving as nothing more than a token of the Blackheart’s power and wealth. It was slow and heavy, would often get stuck in mud, and required an entourage of people guarding it from thieves. It made the roughly week-long trip into something like 10 days. In all honesty, he did not want to take it. But Zayn had heavily protested saying, “A member of the main Blackheart family is going to visit the Duchess as her fiancé and you want to take a carriage that servants use?” To Raven that was hardly an issue, but when he thought about what kind of face Anayla would make if he arrived in such a carriage, he gave in to his brother’s pestering. 

 

Although he did not regret the decision to take the carriage, his impatience grew at an exponential rate. Every second cooped up in this confining place made him want to rip his hair out. It was true they had made intermittent stops but every time they had to disengage the horses, they had to find enough lodging for almost a dozen soldiers, 2 attendees, and a dozen more horses. Hell, his brothers sometimes traveled with double the number. How they could stomach the delays was beyond him. But this was the first city or small town on the road to the main manor of the Lupierze Duchy. The first thing that struck Raven when he got down was the cleanliness. There was almost no garbage on the streets, open market vendors were selling food that smelled and looked like actual food instead of scraps of the ground. 

 

How did she control all of this?  Raven was all too familiar with the problem of street vendors selling food that was completely unfit for human consumption. In fact, he had tried to crack down on the rubbish sold as food in our markets multiple times before giving up and creating a chain of restaurants to serve quality food. Of course there was the matter of price, so at first he had to subsidize the restaurants to keep their prices low. Later on, profits had increased and so he could remove the subsidizes, but still. To be able to regulate a market like street food was already impressive as it was extraordinary under the radar, but to do it with a shaky position as a Duchess with no advisors and a questionable loyalty among her staff was even more so. And the paved roads? For the last 2 days, Raven’s sore back had been thanking him. Paved roads, for miles and miles. He  didn’t feel a single bump that entire time. Sure, he was in a carriage with suspension, but the quality of the road was beyond belief. Raven’s already strong impression of her had skyrocketed.

 

It was true, Raven was already well aware of how shaky Anayla’s position as Duchess was. He knew that she came into power at a relatively young age, but when she mentioned that her advisors were pestering her, he knew she was lying. He had some of the Blackheart’s spies do some digging. Most of the commoners regarded her with fear, but after he interrogated a previous servant of the Lupierze Duchy, he found out that most of her family treated her with disgust. Although her family was dead, it seemed the servants had still kept this attitude. Her advisors had fled, and her finances were shaky. 

 

Yet looking at the overall health of the Lumpierze Duchy, it was like none of those issues existed. In fact, the conditions in the Lupierze Duchy were second only to the Blackheart Duchy’s. Although it was a small sample size, Raven had become far more aware of her skills as a ruler. All of a sudden, he felt excited. I need to know how she did it. There has to be a way to increase the scale and provide regulation to nearly all industries right? What if we apply this to the manufacturing industry? Labor standards? How much safer could products be if they could be regulated like this? It felt like he had finally found someone who could hold a conversation on ruling with him. Talking with his brothers about these kinds of issues was stifling and annoying. They could barely understand what he was saying, preferring instead to just throw their hands up in surrender, and told him just do whatever he wanted. 

 

After dismissing his entourage and exploring the city he was in, what he saw amazed him. Public architecture and facilities, privately owned stores, he saw families walking around happily, despite it being late at night. Lanterns everywhere, illuminating the paved roads and the bustling night market that had crowded around a large fountain. Who manages this? No, how!? Forget second to the Blackheart Duchy, the Blackheart Duchy is second to this place. A genius. He thought in shock. She’s a genius. She’s most likely more competent than I am. That adorable girl is a goddamn monster.

 

He sat at the lip of the fountain, trying to figure out what sorcery she had to have used. Zero, zip, zilch, absolutely nothing. He hadn’t a clue. He remembered the nights he had stayed awake trying to come up with a solution to see his people walking around at night confident in their safety. Every time was a failure, yet here a solution was staring him in the face and he was too stupid to even understand it! He could feel his desire to see the Duchess begin to literally burn a hole in his heart. He wanted to get down on his knees and beg her for the answer. His already high impatience tripled. No, he couldn’t rest here. He ran back to his carriage, nearly tripping over his own feet a dozen times in his rush. His servants, who had just finished unpacking everything, looked at him as he arrived before them with a feverish glint in his eyes. “Pack up again, we aren’t stopping for the night! Someone! Get the knights back here! We’re leaving in an hour!”

 

His servants stared at him, not comprehending. “PACK UP! NOW!” They immediately began lifting the luggage back into the carriage. Raven, far too impatient to care about appearances, rushed over and began helping them, much to their shock. “ONE OF YOU GO, GET THE GUARDS WE’RE LEAVING!” One of the attendees sprinted off to the lodgings the soldiers were staying at. As Raven and the other servant finished loading the carriage. The dozen or so guards ran up to them, their eyes still bleary from being woken up in the middle of the night. The captain asked Raven in his confusion: “My Lord, what on earth is happening?” 

 

Raven, already climbing up into the carriage, responded with no hesitation: “Shaddup, just get ready. I’ll give each of you a dozen gold coins just to hurry up.” A dozen gold coins was the equivalent of half of the captain's salary and almost 4 times the servants’ salary. The previous sleepiness disappeared as the soldiers began screaming their voices bloody for their horses. That was how at approximately two in the morning, Raven, a dozen guards, two servants, and a carriage worth half a million gold coins set out towards the main manor of the Lupierze Duchy. 

 

In fact, that feverish intensity persisted for the remaining 4 days of the journey. The entourage did not stop unless it was for Raven to relieve himself. Soldiers who needed to do their business were left behind and told to catch up later. It was a chaotic time. In fact, over the course of 4 days, the carriage only stopped 3 times, and the last was mere minutes before arriving at the Lupierze Manor for Raven to freshen up before meeting the Duchess. 

 

The scene when they finally arrived at the Duchy was so chaotic it was funny. Raven, although clean and fresh, looked as if he was hit by a tornado. His hair, once neatly combed, had had his hands run through it so many times in a nervous anxiety that it stuck up at all angles as if he had been electrocuted. His clothes were wrinkled and messy. His servants were a wreck, dirtied and exhausted, but the allure of 12 gold coins for each of them had all of them standing ram-rod straight. Appearances were everything, and as unruly as theirs currently was it was nothing compared to what he saw as he stepped out. Sure he had peaked glances from the carriage windows, yet they had hid the state of disrepair the main manor was in. Dirt was everywhere, and there was absolutely no reception. There’s usually a reception, right? As they stood in the midday sun waiting for someone to greet them, Raven leaned over and whispered, “There’s usually supposed to be a greeting, correct?”. 

 

His servants, just as confused as he was, responded “I, I believe so my Lord.”

 

“Forgive me for asking, it’s just that I don’t usually do this kind of thing, so I thought perhaps I was the one who made a mistake. We did send the letter detailing our arrival time, correct?”

 

“Absolutely my Lord, I made sure of it” The guard captain whispered back.

 

“Then do they just not like us or is this some sort of unique welcome they have?”

 

“I don’t believe that’s the case sir.” After a bit of awkward silence and staring at the door. “My Lord I’m going to knock.”

 

“If they do not respond, assume that hostiles have taken over the manor.” The guard captain nodded and approached the door. Two heavy knocks. Silence. Just as the guards were about to draw their swords, the door cracked open and out popped a curly head of hair. Two small, yet beautiful brown eyes entered his vision before they landed on Raven. A squeal, followed by a few sounds and shouting. The doors fully swung open, and a row of messy servants bowed out of sync. At the head of it all stood the owner of the curly hair and brown eyes. She bowed, and in an overly sweet voice, “We welcome you to the Lupierze Manor.” 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Raven sat in a small room, dust everywhere. The couch he sat on looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. The servants had given him watery tea while the manor’s butler was trying to figure out where the Blackheart servants could stay. All in all, he was just confused. He was almost certain that the state of the Duchy came at the expense of the manor upkeep, but still, it shouldn’t be this bad. At the very least there shouldn’t be stains in the carpet, dents in the flooring, pockmarked upholstery, fading paint, and peeling decorations. Although these kinds of things hardly bothered Raven, he felt upset knowing that the Duchess had to stay in these conditions.

 

If she were my wife she wouldn’t have to live in this shit hole… Raven paused for a second as he realized what directions his thoughts were heading in. He felt his face heat up slightly, and he quickly shook himself. It’s only a matter of time anyway. But that aside, he could feel his impatience turning into irritation. Did he really run his horses into the ground only to sit around waiting to even hear about the Duchess? He had already been sitting here for several minutes and had gotten virtually no update about what was happening outside.

 

He got up. Something was definitely off in the manor. I’m sure the Duchess won’t mind if I try to speak to her. He left to find his guards. All 12 of them were still decked out entirely in their armor, watching awkwardly as dozens of Lupierze servants fumbled with the same luggage that it took two people to handle. At the head of it all was the woman they had seen peek her head out. She was screaming all kinds of profanity at the servants. “You shitty trash, how are you this incompetent. My god I can’t believe I pay you for this garbage!” She even kicked one of the servants who was trying to remove a heavier piece of luggage causing him to topple over with it and injure himself. The contrast between her appearance and behavior made the soldiers cringe.

 

One of the noticed Raven approaching and the soldiers quickly stood at attention. Also noticing Raven’s approach, the woman promptly abandoned the task and bowed before him. “What brings you here my Lord?” she said in her disgustingly sweet voice. 

 

Pretending to ignore the blush on her face Raven asked, “What’s your name?”

 

“Ah, I’m the third daughter of Viscount Rasiez, Lady Rasmali”

 

“Hmm. Is that so? Do you know where the Duchess’s room is then?”

 

Rasmali’s expression soured considerably. “Y-yes I do but, may I ask why you would like to know that information?” 

 

Raven snapped at her, his patience being considerably tested. “Just answer the question.” 

“It’s up the stairs, the first door.” Raven spun towards soldiers. “4 of you, find the other two servants and take them to the carriage. Do not let anyone near you. The other 8 of you, protect me, we’re going to find the Duchess.”

Lady Rasmali watched in shock “Pardon! What are you doing…?” Raven interrupted her with a curt order changing the plan, “You… and you... make sure she doesn’t leave. Use force if you have to.” 2 guards drew their swords. Ignoring Lady Rasmali protestations Raven and the remaining 6 guards stormed up the stairs. There, they found the Duchess room completely unattended. Trying the handle, Raven found it locked. That was very strange.

 

“Break the doors” The captain braced himself and kicked the door down. They stormed in like a stampede. As Raven looked around the room, he saw a dress lying on the ground. Next to it was Anayla, laying on the floor. Her wrist weeping blood. Her eyes were half closed and she looked like she was struggling to stay conscious. Her skin, which was already pure white was now ghostly pale. She was shivering profusely, and she was letting out short gasps. It didn’t help that even Raven could feel the chill in the room.

 

Raven sprinted towards her, kneeling beside her. Every second was critical as more and more blood left her body. Tearing off a strip from his shirt, he quickly wrapped it around her bleeding wrist. He curbed the panic and confusion inside him. A single mistake could cost her life, especially considering how much blood she lost. After making sure the knot around her wrist was tight, he began checking the rest of her body for any more wounds. He felt Anayla’s hand reach up and gently caress his cheek. He could feel his heart stop when he felt her hand on his face. He gazed into her eyes, afraid he would see the last whispers of her life leave her. “Sorry about the blood.” She whispered softly. That was all she said before all her strength seemed to disappear. Her hand fell limply beside her, and her eyes closed fully. 

 

Panic began welling up in his chest. Raven found himself struggling to take a full breath. You can’t die yet. I have so much I want to talk to you about. Before he lost his cool, he took a deep breath. He could panic after he had done everything he could. Turning to one of the guards behind him. “Try and find the inhouse doctor. Though considering the miserable state of this place he is probably useless” He turned to another guard. “Run down to the city and ask for a doctor. Tell them there’s a patient with extreme blood loss. 100 gold coins for anyone who can help. The rest of you, stand guard outside. If anyone approaches, you are permitted to use lethal force.” 

 

Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the guards immediately ran out. Two waited outside the room while the Captain and another drew their swords and checked the room for intruders. He quickly picked her up off the ground and moved her towards the fireplace. It was empty. Even if she survived the blood loss, there was a chance she would die of hypothermia. He needed some way to heat her up. He quickly stripped off the rest of his torn shirt and threw it into the fireplace. He pulled off the sheets and covers and added it to the shirt. Fuck, where are the matches. “You!” He turned to the remaining guards beside him. “Tell someone outside to run down to the kitchen and grab some matches!” He looked back at Anayla whose body temperature was now dangerously low. Forgive me for my impudence. 

 

He quickly bundled up her body and wrapped himself around her, making sure to keep pressure on her wrist. Making sure to make as much skin contact as possible. The blood on her clothes stuck them to his skin unpleasantly, but he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about that. A few precious minutes ticked by before a guard finally burst into the room with a box of matches. “Hurry! In the fireplace!” The guard, wasting no time, struck a match and threw it into the pile of cloth. Flames weak at first yet gradually growing intensity consumed the cloth. He moved Anayla as close to the fire as he could without burning her. He finally sat back relieved. He turned back to the guard that had just burst in. “Get some actual firewood. I doubt cloth will last very long.” Turning to the Captain, “In the meantime, break up that chair… and that… whatever that thing is…”

 

Before long another guard burst into the room with an aged old man riding on his back. The sight would be funny if it weren’t for the urgency. “Are you a doctor?” Raven asked the man. “Yes, is she the patient?” Of course, it wasn’t a question that needed an answer. 

 

Raven said nothing as the old man knelt next to the girl. He put a finger under her nose. “She’s still alive.” He pulled a small bag from over his shoulder and began rummaging in it. He pulled out a few herbs and gently put them in Anayla’s mouth. “This should help with her warm up.” The doctor said as he stretched out. He began grinding a few herbs in a pestle and mortar. The smell was unholy. “You can’t possibly be planning on feeding her that.” Raven said with abhorrence. 

 

“Would you prefer she die?” 

 

“...”

 

“Then let me work.” 

 

The man forced her mouth open by pinching her cheeks and placed the paste on her tongue. He massaged the underside of her throat, forcing her unconscious body to swallow the concoction. 

 

After making sure she had swallowed and checking her pulse, the doctor sat down with a loud “oof”. He let out a dry chuckle. “My old bones can’t take this kind of stress anymore”. 

 

“Will she survive?”

 

“If she hasn’t lost too much blood? Yes, yes she should. Keep her warm and try to keep her head and feet level. With the amount she's lost there’s a chance her brain might not be getting enough blood. I can explain what she should eat at a fundamental level, but I doubt you’d understand. Feed her chicken porridge everyday. Use radish and spinach as part of the puree. Make sure she eats 3 times a day, even if she does not want to” The doctor stretched out his back. A few cracks reverberated through the room followed by a satisfied sigh. 

 

“About your payment,” Raven frowned, with what he’d already promised the servants and guards, he probably didn’t have much more than that left, and he’d need all of what he had left and more in the next few days.. “Send a message to the Blackheart Duchy. Tell them Raven Blackheart owes you 100 gold, no, make that 120 gold, for the trouble. I would also like to thank you.”

 

“If I knew it was her who I would be treating, I would have done it without payment.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I said would have treated her for free.”

 

Raven gazed at the man curiously. “Why?”

 

“Do you know the funny part about being a doctor, young man? It’s that if you really are doing your job, you shouldn’t have one. I spent 55 years as a doctor, treating everyone from soldiers to housewives and infants. Yet in that time, all that ever happened was more and more people came in through my doors. I treated them and sent them out, only to have them come back year after year. Yet I was still foolish enough to believe I was making a difference.” The old man gazed off into the fire. “I was constantly busy. I felt needed. It was gratifying. Yet in the measly few months after this woman came into power, I saw the number of patients cut in half.” The doctor turned towards him. “Half. This woman did what I never could. I saw people wandering the streets at night when before they were terrified. Women and children alike attended the night market.” 

 

“This woman single handedly did what thousands of doctors could only dream of, she brought an entire Dukedom back to life. To be of value to someone like that is a reward in and of itself.” The doctor quieted as he gazed down at his wrinkled hands. 

 

“Then would you like to be her personal doctor?”

 

“...”

______________________________________________________________________

 

Two days. That was how long the doctor had stayed by Anayla’s side before she was stable enough to be left alone for a few hours at a time. The Doctor seemed tireless, to the point of sleeping in her room. As for Raven, he had worked nearly constantly after he had commandeered the desk in Anayla’s room and had used his position as fiancé to take temporary control of the Duchy. There were several major issues:

1. The Duchy was horrifically deep in debt, way too much for him to manage. Although the very large number was depressing to see, he found himself happy as he now knew that Anayla was really, really bad at managing money. It was like a quirk. In fact, he found himself oddly happy as he found out more and more about the Duchess and the Duchy she led. Including the fact her treasurer was embezzling at least 10% of the Duchy’s funds alone. 

 

2. The servants were finding every possible way to fleecing the manor, spending nearly a quarter million gold on vegetables. Just. Vegetables. So, he fired all of them. Now the only people inside of the manor were himself, Anayla, the old doctor, his two attendees, and the guards. 

 

He gazed at Anayla’s face as she lay sleeping with a mixture of amusement and hopelessness. She let out these adorable little puffs every few seconds, scrunching up her nose and face before muttering something and rolling over. When you become my wife, I swear you won’t get within a mile of the treasury. He reached over and brushed a strand of her out of her face. It would take at least two more days for the letters requesting some of the Blackheart’s assets and for 200 servants, 25 elite level knights, and 50 guards to reach home, even with how much he has shelled out for the fastest express. It would take even longer for what he had requested to get here, although the money would arrive days in advance of a long convoy of the people this Duchy desperately needed. 

 

After even more digging, he found out that the ringleader of all of this was that noble woman, the one with the annoying voice. She had bribed the maid staff and began siphoning the funds off under her father’s instruction. It also seemed that she had been dosing Anayla’s food with depressants. That combined with her already low self worth and well…

 

Hmmmm. The daughter of Viscount Rasiez right? Raven’s eyes took on a psychotic tinge as he gazed back down at Anayla’s peaceful face. You, ahhhhh you, I don’t like seeing you like this. He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips over her forehead. The last time he felt this strongly about something was the day his parents died. As he gazed at her face, he felt intoxicated, as if he was on a high. And to think, to think that trash is the reason you’re like this. I’ll make them suffer. I’ll make them all suffer. He smiled. I can leave it to him to make it last right? 

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

A FEW DAYS LATER:

 

Lady Rasmali Rasiez was extremely upset. Not only had she been, slapped, hard, by that stuck up Lord Raven Blackheart, she had been fired and quite literally thrown out of the Manor. When she finally saw her father again, she threw herself at his feet, sobbing about how unfair it was. “6 months,” she wailed, “For 6 months I poisoned that miserable bitch and she didn't even die. We were that close. If that meddling Blackheart had arrived only a day later, it would have been too late!” 

 

Her Father consoled her saying “You did well Rasmali. Our sponsor will have to find another way, just with an extra person to deal with. They didn’t get upset when she wasn’t on the trip, our sponsor agreed I couldn’t have known she would have been left behind that day, and I’ll explain you couldn’t have anticipated the Blackheart lad turning up 2 days early. Don’t fret, why not reward yourself with a shopping spree.” Drying her tears, she hugged his legs and happily shouted “Thank you Daddy!” She scampered off to the carriage before her Father could take it back. As she left, she heard her mother shouting. Something about ‘not spending too much’. Oh well. Rasmali hardly cared. Her father could just raise the taxes again. He would take care of it. He always took care of it.