"IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME," Daniel said as he lay in bed next to his wife.
"I think I have to agree." Magnolia faced him. "It's nice and quiet, it feels nice after the past couple of weeks we spent in Geiranger."
"It was quite exciting, was it not?"
"I would not say exciting, Daniel," Magnolia uttered. "Both your friend and mine are in a delicate situation."
"To be more accurate, 'your' friend put 'my' friend and herself in a delicate situation," Daniel corrected with lifted eyebrows.
Magnolia rolled her eyes at him. "Well, they are getting married so there is no need to blame anyone anymore."
"I'm afraid Henry will blame Florence forever."
They were both silent for a long time, each thinking about their friend.
The result of the Flocks and the Kalwens' meeting was that Henry and Florence would get married. It was decided that the wedding ceremony would take place in a month.
They did not want to rush things any faster to avoid more rumors, but they also wanted the marriage to happen soon enough for the current ones to vanish. Henry was quite livid with the decision.
Magnolia was afraid that Daniel was right, Henry would never forgive Florence.
"Maybe Henry will come around," she said. "Florence is a gentle soul, maybe if he got to know her, he would actually like her."
Daniel stared at her for a moment. "I hope he does, it would be such a waste if he spent the rest of his life resenting his wife." He pulled Magnolia closer to him. "Good night, my love."
"Good night."
THE NEXT MORNING, they all had breakfast as a family. Geoffrey was extremely excited about the meal since they had not had one together for almost two weeks.
At the Kalwens' house, the children ate separately. They had governesses taking care of them so that the parents could enjoy their time and the festivities.
"I'm so happy that we are having breakfast together," Geoffrey rejoiced.
Both Daniel and Magnolia exchanged a smile, they had also missed their quiet meals together.
"Where is your puppy?" the duke asked.
"He is in my room, I already gave him his breakfast."
"I think we will need to train him, let me find someone for that."
"Can I be there when Ben is being trained? I want to see how it's done," Geoffrey asked.
"Of course, you can." Daniel didn't think his son would be this invested. He smiled.
The duke spent his whole day in the office working, making up for his absence over the past couple of weeks.
He did his best to focus but it was particularly boring and consuming since Henry was not around. He stayed back in Geiranger along with his mother to finalize the wedding preparations. Daniel really felt his friend's absence.
It was the same routine for the following week. Daniel was buried in documents all day in his office, and Magnolia was doing her duchess work, which was not much.
She mostly met with the seamstress to make new dresses for her, especially one to wear at Florence's wedding. She had a few invitations for social events, but she declined all of them. She decided that she needed some time to rest after the birthday celebration at the Kalwens.
There was one invitation she could not decline, though. It was a ball organized by the princess herself. She dreaded going but she knew that after what had happened at the tea party, she had to go.
She had to show everyone that she was not weak and that she was not afraid of Lasen or the princess.
In the afternoon, Magnolia promised to watch over Ben while Geoffrey was in class, so she took the puppy for a walk in the garden.
She enjoyed the exercise, running after the dog and playing with him. She thought of her son and how taking care of the puppy will teach him about responsibility.
"This was a great idea." She smiled to herself.
"I believe I might become jealous of this small creature if he is the one making my wife smile like that." Daniel appeared a few feet away from them.
Magnolia's smile widened. "Oh my, jealous of a puppy?" She raised her eyebrows.
"What can I do, you have married a jealous man." He shrugged while striding toward them. "I have to admit, he is quite charming." Daniel crouched to caress Ben's head. The puppy leaned into his touch and licked his hand. "Really charming," he repeated with a smile.
"I think I might be the one jealous now," Magnolia joked.
Daniel chuckled but his face tensed up immediately. He pushed to his feet and twisted around as he caught movement with the corner of his eye.
"Magnolia–" was all he could utter before the attacker lunged toward him.
Magnolia watched with wide eyes as the person brought their blade down on Daniel. If his sword took only a second longer to materialize, he would have been sliced in half. The attacker was cloaked and their face was covered.
"Go back to the castle," Daniel said, while the sound of the clashing swords filled the garden.
Magnolia scooped up Ben, he was more agitated from the events than she was. The poor thing was trembling more than her. She hesitated, looking back at her husband and the attacker.
'Maybe I could summon my powers and help him.'
She closed her eyes and tried her best to think about the fire that had burned from her fingers on the red hill. She prayed that she would hear that voice again. But nothing.
"It seems that you have lost your touch, Your Grace." The intruder's muffled voice came, mocking.
Daniel took two jumps back. He looked back with a smirk, then he burst out laughing. Magnolia was too shocked to move.
'Has he done something to Daniel?'
"You never change, do you?" he said as he walked back toward the robed intruder.
"Never." The answer came playful.
Daniel laughed again. "My love." He turned back to look at Magnolia. "Let me introduce you to my friend that I told you about, Mage Laya."
He motioned to the intruder as the black cloth and hood were pushed down, revealing long raven hair flowing in the breeze.
'Laya?'
"A pleasure to meet you, Your Grace." The woman bowed to Magnolia who was still shocked from the whole scene.
Thankfully, Ben barked again and brought her back from her daze.
"Ah…yes, the pleasure is mine." She tried her best to smile, but it was more of a grimace.