Duke of Al Hazard
By: fanaticxanime
Before you read, I must apologize for the late update. I've been busy with exams, and after the exams, I slacked. Anyway, I'm back on track now, and a special shout out to lovenanofate20: Just wanted to say thanks, because you motivated me to continue this story again. XD
I had been dilly-dallying for this chapter. I wrote a total of four versions for this one because I wasn't satisfied with either of them. I had finally settled for this one though, and I hope you'll find it interesting.
I've decided to take The Phantom of The Opera and The Beauty and The Beast as a reference, and I've also decided that Fate would NOT be a stoic character like my other stories because you might just get bored with that. I've also figured that I should give her a weird but enduring personality, and for Nanoha, well, she'll still be kind-hearted and patient, but she'll definitely be frustrated with the new feelings that she would be about to come in contact with when she spends more and more time with fate.
So in this chapter, I'm hoping that you'll get a glimpse of their personality, and in this story, I also hope to trace out the duality of Fate's love for Nanoha: The bright side and the dark side, much like The Phantom.
Anyway, most important of all, I'm now asking for your (my reader's) preferences.
Please answer and comment if you can, and if you did, it would be highly appreciated, since there is no real plot for this story, I want to see how far I can make this go, and I'll need YOUR help in order to do that:
Q1: Would you like more serious content OR more fluff OR half half?
Q2: Do you still want me to continue after this chapter?
Thanks in advance if you answered, and I hope you'll enjoy yourself with this chapter. I'm not so sure how I did on this chapter, since there's so many possibilities of what might actually happen in between them, so please comment below if you've got any ideas or anything you want to say, and it will be most welcomed.
Also, to those who reviewed my prologue, thank you so much for all the comments and appreciation! It really means a lot to me, and I know you might hate me right now since I never frequently update my stories, but still, thanks for everything. The favs, the follows, and even to the silent readers, thanks for giving my story a chance.
Without further due, read on.
~fanaticxanime
Chapter 1- Nuptial Night
When it gets dark we're falling far tonight
Under the moonlight chasing fireflies
If I'd ask you, "do you think you want to?"
Just say yes without feeling like you've got to
So won't you pull me closer
Kiss me faster
Take me to your happy ever after
Girl don't make me wait forever
You know we'd be so much better
If we could fall in love together
So take me to your
Happy ever after
By the time the wedding ended (to Nanoha's dismay that is), it was already late in the night, and needless to say, she was mildly surprised that the Duke hosted a banquet for the wedding, though the recluse had kept to himself mostly.
For her though, she was obliged to accept the false congrats and rapturous kisses on the back of her hand from respectable nobles who snickered at her unfortunate fate.
Her family, with their guilt-faced expression and tight smiles, thanked her for her 'good deed' and 'wished her a merry night', and what the night brings scared Nanoha out of her wits!
Of course, like any other joyously married folks, it was only expected from them that they consummate their nuptial on their first night, and oh, how she trembled on the insides from just the thought of it!
It was a painfully pleasurable experience!-she had heard a gossiping woman whisper not-so-loudly to her friend on a Sunday morning at the front yard of her home while they walked past, and then, both females had giggled giddily, their cheeks flushed pink and eyes fluttering.
They had been no more than twenty years old, if she remembered correctly, and the way they hushed about their evening in their lover's bed and the minutes that ticked away torturously quick did nothing to reassure her nervousness; and when she stepped onto the carriage, dread consumed every part of her body. Stiffly, she smoothed out her wedding dress and sat down.
The Duke then entered the carriage too, and in the dim light supplied by the bulb on the low ceiling above them, the shadows seemed to add another shade to the black mask he wore, transforming it into something more horrendous and terrifying, and for a moment there, she had thought she had glimpsed the ugly truth behind the mask, and for the first time in her short life that consisted of only a meager twenty years-
Nanoha fainted.
-The Duke of Al Hazard-
Something warm and rough caressed her cheek, shaking her out of her semi dream-like state, and opening her eyelids slowly, she blinked a few times to clear her murky vision.
Where was she?
And why was she here?
She glanced around meekly, and from the simplicity of the room which only had a wardrobe, a desk, a toilet and a bathroom and weirdly, a piano, she concluded that she was in a bedroom, and most likely, her husband's bedroom.
She tried to remember how she got here, and the memory made her shoulders sag-
She had fainted due to the exhaustion from over worrying and from all the pandemonium that took place in just a few short weeks: She was no longer in a relationship with her childhood friend Yunno, who had ignored her throughout the whole day of her marriage, she was married to a stranger whom she knew nothing about and, it was still the first night of their marriage.
The Duke retrieved his gloved hand, taking Nanoha's attention with him, and it took a few seconds for everything to click into its rightful place-the soft fabric beneath her, the cold air hitting on her bare skin, her hair pooled and untied, the Duke watching her beside the bed. She shot up from her previous laying position, and frantically, her hands searched over her body for any evidence of clothes.
She breathed a sigh of relief when her hand came in touch with the unfamiliar silky texture, but it was short-lived as she once again looked down at herself with eyes wide in horror. Her head snapped towards her husband and with a furious glare and trembling voice as she spoke through gritted teeth, she exclaimed,
"My clothes, why is it not my wedding dress?"
Serene ruby orbs that glinted in the dim room met her blazing ones, and with an apparent shrug, he confirmed her suspicions.
"Y-you changed my clothes?" she stammered.
The Duke stayed silent again.
The realization hit her like an asteroid, and she froze in dilemma-That meant, that meant that he had almost seen her in her whole birthday suit.
She felt her blood boiling from anger and utter embarrassment, but most importantly, she felt that she had been violated.
Who knew what he did to her when she was unconscious?
As if hearing her thought, the Duke walked over to the window sill and closed the curtains, hiding the moon from view and weakening its light rays; and the cool summer wind no longer raised the goose bumps on her arms. He said,
"Worry not; it is nothing I haven't seen before."
Nanoha's jaw dropped at the blunt statement, but before she could give him a piece of her mind for his ill statement, the Duke interrupted in hastiness as he glanced at his wrist,
"I must take my leave now. Sweet dreams, my lady. Rest well and we shall meet till morrow's sunrise."
It was the longest sentence that the Duke had ever spoken, and somewhere in her mind, she had thought that it sounded a bit feminine, and in her own reverie, she fuzzily saw a black figure glide to the door and heard the soft click of the knob.
The Duke was gone, just like that-swift like the wind and as silent as a shadow.
Fingering her silk-woven nightdress, she laid back down on the comfortable bed, and flipping her body over, she hugged the pillow into her face. A soft scent of lilies wafted into her nose as she breathed in deeply and she sighed, taking comfort from it.
She had never met someone as confusing as the Duke was. One minute he was there, and the other he was gone, but one thing she was sure about was that whatever the Duke was in a hurry to leave her for, she was thankful for it, because it had made him forget completely of the fact that they were supposed to consummate their nuptial.
Pushing aside the raw disappointment that nagged her mind in the most inexplicable manner, she decided that sleep would be the panacea to all her existing problems.
She forced her eyes shut and pouting her lips, she let out an indignant huff.
Whatever was the Duke hurrying for anyway?
There you go. And... I'm sorry for the short chapter. I will definitely make the second one longer if you still want me to continue.