*PREVIOUS CHAPTER*
"Young miss, the marquis(the father) requested your presence" a servant spoke, it could never something good if that old man wanted to see me alone.
***
"Celestine, the duke invited you to his mansion. You should see him tomorrow!" the marquis said, I just stood there silently. Could that duke have planned anything? I gave a nod and turned around. "Don't you do anything stupid in front of the duke, otherwise you can be executed" the marquis said, I rolled my eyes and shut the door. "That old man!" I yelled, not caring if anyone heard me.
"Miss, the rabbit is finally eating!" Mary came running to me, she looked really tired looking after that rabbit. I gave her a nod and followed her. The rabbit couldn't move his leg for the time being, but seeing him recover made me relieved. I put my hand up, signalling that all the people in the room should leave.
"Poor rabbit, luckily your leg was only broken and not totally crushed under that wheel." I said, sighing in relief. "You saved me so you're my master!" The rabbit could talk?! "Hold on, you can talk?!" I almost jumped from fear. "Yes I can, I'm a magic rabbit!" I blinked a few times before coming back to my senses. 'No wonder it looked different from the rabbits I know!' I scanned the rabbit's body, nothing out of the blue.
"Magical rabbits are very rare here in Maryvil (country), there are only a few of us left!" The rabbit said while eating a carrot. "We usually don't talk to humans, unless we need to or when a contract is formed." I frowned. "What's that contract?" I said, with my eyes full of curiosity. "If we sign a contract, our magic powers will be lend to our master for a time being." The rabbit kept eating, not making eye contact with me. "What kind of powers do you have, rabbit?" The rabbit stopped eating and sat down and finally made eye contact.
"First of all, don't call me 'rabbit', I'm Naralia. Secondly, I have the power to control fire. We magic rabbits can learn new powers depending on our master's skills" Naralia looked at her leg and she sighed. "My magic is currently not working because my leg is hurt, my powers will return when I am completely recovered". I was pretty amazed by the power that such a delicate creature can have.
"Anyways, sign this!" A paper popped into my hands, a 'magic contract'. I carefully read it and there were no bad things for me, everything looked alright. I read the last rule and flinched, it read:
'If the master is dying from not natural occurrences or poisoning, the magic rabbit has to sacrifice himself for the master to live'. I got worried and Naralia saw it. "Don't worry too much, with a magic creature still living, you won't get hurt" I nodded and signed it. A weird mark appeared, it looked like a seal. "That's a magic seal, it will lighten up when you summon me or use my powers" Naralia's leg had the same seal but smaller. "Alright, the contract is done!", she fell asleep as I carried her to my room. I still had my questions to ask, because a magic rabbit wouldn't form a contract with just anyone.
***
*THE NEXT MORNING*
I was sitting in the carriage, on my way to the Florys Estate. I brought the jacket with me and a letter which the old man told me to give to the duke. It's the first time for me to go and see a boy, I was quite a lonely potato in my last life. All I did was eating, studying and sleeping. I was the only child in my family who studied medical herbs and became a doctor. I never had any other interests except from being a doctor or herbalist. I sighed. There was no way that my body in my world would still be there, going back was impossible.
The carriage stopped, we arrived at the Florys Estate. A servant opened the carriage door and I got out, the mansion was bigger than the Luvenis' mansion and garden combined! It wouldn't be a shock if you were to get lost here. To my surprise, the duke was already waiting in person. He gave me a hand and he led me to his work office. There were tea and snacks prepared for me, everything looked planned ahead of time.
"So, you must be aware about the marriage". The duke stroked his hair, he looked really handsome! I gave him a nod. "I suggest to have it as soon as possible" I choked on my tea, the duke still had his pokerface on. "Duke, may I ask why?" I carefully spoke, there was no reason to have it later or sooner. The only thing was that I never had any dating experience and didn't even know how to behave in front of higher nobles. "The third prince is scheming something, but without the backing of the current king, I can't do anything" the duke looked quite serious, his reason was valid.
"Well, the third prince doesn't look like quite a good person to me either. Our marriage will probably still be the same if it's either sooner or later, so I agree" I sighed, I couldn't believe that I was getting married. "Alright, how about getting married when it turns Spring?" I nodded my head, the duke finally showed a smile instead of his pokerface.
"Don't you have anything else to do, my dear fiancée?"