Festivities rarely graced the quaint town of Kyaro. With the war between Highland and City-State raging on for years, the city had been changing owners every so often that no one felt bothered by it anymore. For quite some time, Kyaro was Highland's, and the royal family apparently felt the charm the capital lacked and built a summer house at the far end of the city. This changed things. Every holiday season the town would suddenly be flocked with aristocrats, knights, and maids.
Like today.
The newly titled Lord Atreides observed his surroundings with mild interest. Crops had been good the last spring, so the market was bustling with activities. Crowds went so far as to the body of the main road, the only main road in Kyaro, causing quite a traffic jam. Tens of carriages, no doubt belonging to other boring nobles, trailed behind his. Well, he thought, as he leaned to the half-window, the party would start late at any rate. Not that he actually minded.
Nobility was useless in backwater place like Kyaro. Having a last name and title did earn you money, maids, attendants, and other trinkets, but they barely held any power. Most people in Kyaro were commoners. No one with influence lived in the town. It wasn't the best place to make connections or exert your authority. No flower or hill or any other gift of nature Kyaro was blessed to have could make up for such disadvantages. For that very reason, the Eastern side of Kyaro housed many properties of Highland nobles, but only one building was occupied year-round: the Atreides family house.
There was a commotion outside and finally, the carriages began moving again. Marcel Atreides sighed in irritation. If not for his father's stupid inheritance letter, he would be moving to someplace more befitting of his title. It was his father's fault the name Atreides never had much weight. The decision to stay here, disconnected to the political game over at the capital, was one big blunder in Marcel Atreides' book. His father had been dead for two years, but he still had to abide to the old man's clause: The House of Atreides had to remain in Kyaro at least until he had his own child, lest he lost the money to a second cousin. It was an absurdity he could never fathom the reason of. Like he could find a suitable wife in this town full of boring people.
Someone shouted and the carriage came to full stop. The door was opened to reveal the royal summerhouse. Marcel descended from his carriage in full regalia, not wanting to lose from those nobles from the capital. The mansion was already full of people when he arrived.
Officially, the occasion they were celebrating was Princess Jillia Blight's second birthday. In reality, Marcel Atreides was pretty sure everyone at the place simply wanted exposure to important figures and wealthy families. Just another social nonsense he had to put up with for the sake of improving his family standings.
Yeah, as if someone actually cared for a bastard girl's birthday. He would never say it out loud, oh, heaven forbid! But what else to say when a baby girl, supposedly a princess, was raised in this place, faraway from the palace and lacked both luxury and proper education a royal born mandated? It clicked with the rumor he heard sometime before his father's death, brought by his errand boy. The Queen had been sullied by a band of City-State thugs, hence her disappearance from parties and official businesses.
Marcel tapped his glass impatiently. He had rounds of socializing, done congratulating the royal family, even taking time to chat with several bright prospects, but the party was far from over. He eyed the room, finding nothing of his interest, then stood up. He needed a walk.
Just like everything else he once had the chance to see in L'Renouille, the garden was done with exquisite taste. Rows of roses of different colors decorated most of the space, complementing other flowers of exotic breeds. There was even one kind that glows under the moonlight ("Her Highness' favorite!" reported a chambermaid) and another which looked like a bouquet of flame.
What caught his eye however, was a young lady tending one of the rose patches. Her hair was wrapped in neat bun, her attire comprised only of white working dress and matching gloves. Compared to other women and girls attending the party right now, she was too plain and entirely out of place. Her eyes, however, spoke of different tales. Dress her appropriately and she could steal hearts from young nobles in the party. The way she moved, with subtle elegance and air of confidence, wasn't what he expected from a gardener's daughter either. She was too engrossed in her work to realize someone had been observing her.
"What are you doing here, miss? I don't see others working this late."
His voice caught her off guard. She turned to face him, dropping a pair of shears. She quickly stood up and brushed her dress.
"As you can see, my lord, I was tending to the garden. We were instructed to continue our work in the morning after the party, but now is the best time to fertilize this flower. I cut some stray branches as well while I'm at it."
"I've never see you around Kyaro before," he raised his eyebrows. Apparently the girl took his statement as suspicion, so she hastily explained that she was a new worker coming from Sajah. She was clearly hoping to be quickly dismissed from this awkward conversation.
So he dismissed her.
But it wasn't the last of their meeting. Intrigued, Marcel conducted a brief investigation about the girl. His servants never question him for trying to dig informations from a new gardener working at the royal summerhouse, and turned the reports the following morning.
She was from a lesser noble family in Sajah. Not surprising. Judging at yesterday's impression, she got decent education despite living in yet another backwater village. Said noble family lost their wealth to robbers and gambling habit, so now her title had been stripped off and she must work to pay her family's debt.
Her family name removed, she now went by the name Rosa. Fitting, thought Marcel, as her beauty and demeanor were like the roses she tended. She was too good to simply ended up as a lowly gardener. Well, she had a noble descent and it was enough for him. He heard people talking about how the girl was playing hard to get. That she pushed away advances from interested men. But he was no ordinary man, he was the current Lord Atreides. Besides, he always got what he wanted.
It was much to his chagrin that the report failed to take note of one little detail: she had a child.
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He hated the child. As he learnt later in his pursuit, the child was the reason she was afraid of getting close with any man. She didn't speak much of the child's father, so Marcel had pretty good suspicion that she went to the same predicament as Queen Sara. Afterall, it wasn't that rare nowadays.
Not just that. She had frail health and caring for the child had made it worse. Marcel Atreides couldn't see why she couldn't simply send the child away. She was too kind for her own good, he thought.
At the end, he prevailed and he won. He named her Lady Atreides and took the child in as well, although he vowed to keep him away from troubling his wife. She had suffered enough because of the child.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Lord Atreides loved his wife. She was a lovely lady with weak constitutions, so once married, he hired more maids to run the estate. His stepson, however, was one nuisance he couldn't seem to remove from his perfect life. He was pretty sure his wife didn't actually want Jowy either, so when suitable situation arise, he gladly kicked the kid out of his family.
What good could there be if he allowed Jowy, a failure from his birth, a traitor to the naton, stayed in Atreides home and used his name for atrocious actions? Genes to blame. Even as a kid he had preferred to play with ragtag orphans instead of well-bred noble children. Lord Atreides once supported Jowy's wish to join the military, with hope that the useless kid would die and make himself useful at the frontlines, but nooooo, he had to be a traitor. Clearly he inherited nothing from his fair mother.
Yes, getting him out of the house was the best decision Lord Atreides made in years.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
War had certainly been good to business, thought Lord Atreides, sipping his morning tea with a smile. If he kept up with this, he could get his family moving to the capital by the end of the year. Marco could benefit from that prestigious academy in L'Renouille. He hadn't heard the latest condition of the clash between Highland and City-State, but he had faith that Highland had the upper hand so far, as Kyaro hadn't been invaded.
Life had been good to him the last few months. With Jowy out of the house, he could spent more quality time with his family. No need to put up with the kid anymore. No bad role model for Marco anymore. His wife was still sullen, but her condition was good enough lately.
His calm morning was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"What is it?"
"Excuse me, milord, this just came through the post."
Their new servant carried with her an official looking letter trimmed with gold and silver. A blue ribbon, no doubt holding the parchment together before, dangled in her hand. He had to scold her for opening his letters later.
"What is that? Invitation to a ball?"
Good timing. Could probably cheer her wife up. Marco had to be introduced with this kind of event as well, to prepare him to be a proper nobleman. He had to call a tailor. Marco had grown an inch or two since his last measurements.
The maid's face lighten up, couldn't wait to convey her excitement to her master. She thought it could erase the dour look in his face.
"Haven't you heard, milord? The Princess is about to wed!"
Lord Atreides' temples scrunched. To whom? Some prince from foreign nation, perhaps, to help Highland in this war? Meanwhile, his maid continued with abandon to her master's expression.
"I heard Edna said this man was a Highland general! He was so brave and awesome that he was able to take over Greenhill without a single death! When the Prince offered him gift, he asked for the Princess' hand in marriage!"
She drowned in the tale, a 'romantic' notion in her mind. Stuff from fairytale. Lord Atreides glanced at her with disgust. Difficult to find a young girl with enough brain in her head nowadays. No worries. He could afford better maids once they moved to the capital. She handed him the letter giddily, then went away before being dismissed.
Lord Atreides decided not to let her manners bother him. He could simply fire her after this. Although he carried the title 'Lord', he wasn't usually invited for such grand event, much to his dismay. The appearance of this letter meant his maneuver at balls the last few years finally borne a fruit.
Names were written with flourish in the marriage invitation. The big cursive alphabets caused his brain to halt. Halfway through the parchment, he remembered nothing about his content feeling from that morning. The tea he drank felt bitter in his mouth. His body shook with anger, confusion, and fear. Eventually the parchment fell from his grasp, gracing the cold wooden floor. The upper portion read:
"...Hereby...Holy Union...
Princess Jillia Blight and General Jowy
L'Renouille..."
Jowy! That wretched name! He was supposed to be gone! He was supposed to be dead! He wasn't supposed to haunt his family again! Lord Atreides shook his head violently. It was a nightmare, a sick joke. He could't- somehow-climbed the ranks in the span of few months and suddenly a Prince Consort. He was a traitor to Highland!
In his panic, Lord Atreides rang the calling bell.
"Marian! Marian! Call my wife! Call my son! Prepare our trunks!"
Using all his strength to utter strings of commands to his head servant and butler, he dropped to the couch in exhaustion shortly after. How could he tell his wife? That pensive look in her face...
He could do anything, that boy. Surely he would come to harm him and his family sooner or later, for revenge. Lord Atreides wouldn't let Jowy had his way. He'd take his family somewhere safe.
Yes, yes. A name passed his brain. Harmonia. They'd be safe and happy there. The war wouldn't touch them. Jowy wouldn't find them.
He would protect his family no matter what...
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A/N: This is...twisted. Yes. I don't know whether I've done a good job or not, but I always think of Marcel Atreides being a conflicted character. I wrote him rather childish, as in my headcanon he simply viewed the world from his own lenses. Tell me, what do you think about the Atreides family?