The Forsaken Heiress

EDITED.

"They thought they killed me; they only awakened me." ~Araneae Ruber

~

LUELLA, WHO sat on the floor after her exchange with the strange cloaked man. She was still red in the face from the statement he had whispered in her ears. 

"I want to know who that person is. I need to find out. I don't care how and where I would get the information, I must get it," she said to herself as she pressed her back against the wall as she tried to relax her flustered face. 

But her mind kept on refreshing to what the man had whispered to her.

'What I want from the Van-Rensselaer dukedom is Luella Van-Rensselaer' His arms slipped around her waist, pulling her close to his side as he continued his whispers.

'Do you think I can't get it? Hmm? My Princess?' 

His words sent shivers down her spine. Her hands clammed into her dress as she listened to his words. 

'We will see about that… Very… Very… Soon'.

Her face burned hard as she kept remembering their conversation. This was opposite of what she was. She wasn't this easy as her sister that would fall for some random small compliment that men would throw her way.

But here she was thinking and re-thinking the words of that cloaked man. She let out a sigh as she tapped the side of the cheeks, trying to reduce her blush.

Looking in the direction he went, her eyes widened as the flustered look that painted her face was immediately wiped off as she realized where he went.

"That direction!! He was going to catch Louisa and Chandler!" She shouted anxiously as she grabbed her dress and began running.

"I am probably late, and he would have most likely gotten to the room before I reach there, but hopefully I should be able to talk him out of it… hopefully," She began calculating and seeing the options she has to turn the situation around.

She stepped around the corners till she reached the room. It was completely shut, unlike when she last saw it, slightly ajar. Luella threw the door open, her eyes widened at the scene before her. Chandler had slight blood dripping from the side of his head, and her sister was literally dangling from the cloaked man's hands.

He had effortlessly had her in a choke hold as he lifted her into the air. 

"That's enough from you!!" She yelled, grabbing their attention. 

Chandler's eyes fell opened as he noticed his fiancée standing at the entrance of the room. She had caught him. He had to do something or say something. Anything would be enough… If not, he would lose everything he had ever worked for the past three years. 

"My love, Luella, this isn't what it looks like, I promise I can explain," He uttered as he moved around to finally grab his clothes to cover himself. 

He hadn't done that before. After all, he had hoped to go back to having sex with his lovely Louisa. But now that he was caught by Lady Luella, he had dared not even stayed in the room after she leaves. 

There was no way for him. He had to find out what to do or even what to say to her because there was nothing he could think of that would help in any way, shape, or form.

Meanwhile, the cloaked man still held Louisa in the air. He had merely turned his head to give her attention. After all, he couldn't ignore his princess.

"Sister!! Please help me. This man — This man suddenly barged into the room and began manhandling me. Please call the soldiers and have him attested".

"Luella darling. It is not what it looks like. Promise, this is all a misunderstanding of some sort. Don't take it to heart, okay?"

Luella barely paid attention to what Chandler and Louisa were both saying. She stepped into the room as she walked in the cloaked man's direction.

Her eyes were on him and only on him. She placed her hands on the arm that held her sister in the air. 

"Please, for my sake, put her down."

"Why? Why should I?" He asked, staring at her dead in the eyes.

She bit her lips and thought, but it wasn't a long thought before she knew what to respond to him. "Didn't you want something from Van-Rensselaer dukedom?" 

Her surprising question caused his hold on Louisa's neck to loosen for a moment before regaining normalcy and choking her a bit harder than before.

Louisa slapped and clawed at his hands as she aggressively tried to get his hands off her neck.

'Why wasn't Luella doing anything?' She wondered as she noticed her sister's timid behavior. 'She should be screaming and yelling for the guard's attention, but here she was, softly touching the arms of the man who was dangerously torturing her sister'.

'Is this really my sister?' she thought as she continued watching their interaction. She had no choice but to dangle in her birth suit with no aid what-so-ever.

"Are you being serious, Lady Luella?"

"I will try my best to see what I can do. If it is within my strength to do so… Then I will try".

"NO!"

Her eyes widen, and her brows furrowed. "No?"

"No"

"Why is that?"

"You are giving me uncertainty… What I want is a certain assurance that I would get what I want".

Her eyes widened as she was taken aback by the severity of his statement.

"You would not have it any other way if I don't agree?"

"Yes. In fact, I would grab them by their hair and show them to the people present at the banquet hall".

Their eyes widened at his declaration. Though they didn't know him, but they were sure he was serious, and he would really disgrace them in front of the nobility at the banquet.

"Do you take the words of a Van-Rensselaer as a joke?" She asked, now sounding serious and no longer as soft as she previously was.

"Yes. Yes I do."

Her eyes turned into an angry split as she threw him an annoyed glared.

He really knew what buttons to push to get her peeved.

"But your words are important to me" He added, and as usual… His words could turn her angry feelings into one of a flustered mess.

The way they spoke caused a surprised expression at the other two present with them. 

Chandler was sure if he said anything remotely close to what the cloaked man was saying to Luella, she would look at him like he was some disgusting gum that got stuck on her shoe.

But here she was getting opening flustered in front of him… her fiancé.

How — How dare she?

Did she really have no shame or self awareness about her surroundings? Ah! She really disgusted him to the core. 

 Louisa looked just as shocked, or even more shocked, than Ser. Chandler. 

'Was her sister getting complemented by some guy she didn't know? Who really was this man. What family was he from?

Where did they meet? And wasn't she in love with Chandler? Had she missed something from her sister's life that she didn't know about?'

"You dragging them out and exposing them would cause damage to the reputation of the dukedom," She said again, clearly trying to reason with him.

"I highly doubt the dukedom has become that weak to crumble just at these escapades. From my guess, the ones who would be at the losing end would be the cheaters," He stated. What he was saying clearly made sense, but she still didn't want harm to come to Louisa's name. 

She knew of the rumors that surrounded her, and she knows what she had done to silence most of them. Luella couldn't possibly kill all the families that attended the banquet, just because of her sister's foolish sins.

Not because she couldn't, but because it was more than half of the noble family they had in the empire.

"I am telling you, darling, this man is nothing but a liar. And only aims to destroy our marriage." Chandler shouted again. He was trying to get her to at least look at him, but since she stepped into the room, she had not even glanced at him or Louisa. 

Immediately feeling irritated at the sound of his voice. The cloaked man slammed his fist again at the side of his head.

If Ser Chandler didn't have a concussion before, he most definitely had it now.

Luella bit her lips as she came around him. She placed her hand on his chest as she stared at him.

Luella knew nothing of how to seduce a man, so she just placed her hands on his chest as though to calm him down and try to reason with him.

Under her palm, the man's heart began racing, beating really loudly. He was sure Luella could hear the loud beating.

'What was she doing!!'

"Please put her down so we can go outside or to some other place to talk and discuss." She asked with a soft, pleading look.

As if mesmerized by her, he dropped her like she was nothing but trash that he didn't want to touch anymore. 

Grabbing Luella by her wrist, he pulled her away from them, and they left the room without either of them looking back or saying anything to them.