The Duke's Masked Wife

"I am not jealous of what relationship you two have," Edgar felt the need to clarify this as Alfred still did not look convinced and he did not want Alessandra to think there were feelings involved to make him feel this way. "I am simply not the type to share my wife and I would love to avoid rumors of you cheating on me with a cook."

"If it is true that Mario has feelings for me, I don't think he would ever do anything out of line especially now that I am married. I'd like to say I know him well enough that he wouldn't cross that line. I don't ever plan to cheat on you, Edgar," she reassured him.

Alessandra wanted to tell him no man would ever want to be with her after they saw her face.

"You couldn't even if you wanted to. Where would you find a man better than me to have an affair with? I'm afraid you won't find one. I'll take your word for it that the cook will remember you are now married or I will make sure this crush he has on you truly crushes him. Carry on with giving her food. Why would all of you stop because we are talking?" Edgar scolded his servants.

With this said, the ten servants turned in Alessandra's direction to one by one place a piece of the dish they carried onto their plate, and then they would go to Edgar.

"Must violence always be your answer, Edgar?" Alessandra asked.

"It is more effective than constantly having to explain myself to others. Violence helps people to get to the point quickly so they do not waste my time. When you dive deeper into what I do daily and see the type of people I must converse with for information, you would understand why I have no time for games. Is that the door, Alfred?" Edgar asked as his ears picked up on a faint knocking sound.

"I will check on it," Alfred said before leaving the dining room.

Alessandra sat quietly in her seat as the food was placed on her plate and when the plate became full another plate was used to put more food on. As much food as it was for one person, she was excited to try all of it.

"Would you love tea, coffee, or juice, Duchess?" A maid came to her other side with a tray on wheels with an assortment of drinks.

"I would love orange juice for now. Thank you. Edgar!" She called to get his attention but as her eyes moved from the drinks to his end of the table, she found he already had his gaze on her. "What will you do with the drinks and food that are left over?"

"Everything is made fresh for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The servants gather in the kitchen after I have eaten and eat what the cook did not send out or what quickly returned. Do not worry about it. Nothing goes to waste," Edgar reassured her. "The reason I do not place the food on the table and have it served to us then sent back to the kitchen right away is so the servants can eat it warm. It would be horrible to make them wait for cold food. It would be like they are eating our scraps."

"That is nice of you. Outside of you teasing others, I am failing to see why you are called monster or demon once again, Edgar. You get rid of the bad people and do nice things for others. Perhaps, is there a side to you that I have never seen yet? It is reasonable considering it has been a few days since we met but this side of you cannot be that bad."

"I am only called a monster by those people that I have caught doing bad things. They don't like that I am ruining their plans. It always has to do with how I kill my enemies. They try to kill me and if I slice off a head, arm, or leg, everyone suddenly cries monster like I wasn't the victim. There is the misconception that I go around hurting people for no reason.  Not many people are aware the king assigned me to get rid of his corrupted subjects. Your father was one," he informed Alessandra.

Whether he met Alessandra that night or not, Desmond was doomed to die sooner than he did. Edgar planned on killing him the same night of the party but after Alessandra's sweet offer of contract marriage, he left the man alive a little longer.

"I thought it was only right to have your father walk you down the aisle and then I kill him when we return from the honeymoon."

"How kind of you. It is funny to think my father was so desperate to invite his grim reaper to his party. He must be upset wherever he is," Alessandra couldn't help but laugh. If time were to be reversed and her father was brought back to life, he would try his hardest to avoid Edgar rather than chase after him.

"He is far below us. Where else could a man like him have gone? When my time in this world ends, I will find your father and scare the hell out of him. Make him think he is about to die twice," Edgar grinned as he imagined how terrified the Baron would be.

Alessandra didn't like how Edgar spoke so confidently that he would end up down there. "Why wouldn't you end up in the clouds?"

"Do you really think the angels would want me up there with them?"

Alessandra tilted her side slightly confused as she did not understand why this was his reasoning. "If that is what you think."

"Young master, the papers are out. It appears your marriage has made the front page. Someone from the church gave a tip that they saw you enter the church with a young woman to be wed in the middle of the night. The woman's name has not been mentioned," Alfred returned to the dining room and placed the paper right in front of Edgar.

"Is it the priest Peter?" Alessandra wondered out loud. He was the only person she saw in the church.

"Not unless he wishes to be a dead man. I don't like anyone giving tips about my business. I will pay him a visit to find out," Edgar replied.

***

"Achoo!" Peter sneezed out of the blue as he stood by the church doors.

"Have you caught a cold Peter? The weather is warm and it is that time of the year when everyone catches a cold," a man said to the priest as he entered the church.

"No, I am perfectly fine. The air just got cold all of a sudden," Peter rubbed his hands to warm up. "There must be a storm coming to Lockwood."