Unfortunately married life was nothing like Donellan expected.
From what he could remember, his parents seemed to have a good relationship up until his mother died.
He grew up being loved and remembered that his mother was kind to him. Not only that, his father was a much different man than he was after her death. They weren't super close but he was there for him.
It was after his mother passed and they had to move out of the North that his father started to grow distant and his usually calm demeanour became impatient and temperamental.
He didn't know much about what a happy marriage was supposed to be like, but he knew that he loved Sylia and that he wanted her to be happy.
A year into being married, Donellan's father passed and he was now tasked with the job of managing the household, this included the knight order as well. Since he had become so busy going on expeditions he was barely home and therefore grew distant from Sylia.
He was apologetic but Sylia was always understanding therefore he didn't think she would be so affected by his absence.
Things started to spiral slowly after that. Sylia constantly demanding attention, constantly being paranoid about where he was going and the people he was meeting. It was to the point that he was almost never allowed to leave the estate unless he was being summoned by the King.
Donellan trying to be a good husband, tolerated her possessive behaviour and did nothing to change the situation. This in turn made Sylia even more possessive.
There was an incident where the both of them were invited to attend a ball and out of curtesy for the wife of a renowned noble from outside the land, Donellan entertained her for a while which resulted in Sylia exhibiting…. Jealousy.
She started to request having a child soon after. Donellan at the time had no desire to have a child, in fact, if it was up to him, he wouldn't want to have one ever.
He wasn't too fond of children and deep down he was afraid of ending up just like his father.
Being faced with refusal upset Sylia but she let it go assuring him that she was fine with the decision.
After being sent to an expedition for a month, Donellan had to return earlier than planned because he found out that his wife was very ill.
She had been bedridden for weeks and it looked like she was getting worse.
Her illness came out of nowhere and the doctor's were having a hard time pinpointing what the cause of the illness was. Seeing her looking so miserable and in pain broke Donellan's heart. He wished that he had been there for her before things had gotten this bad.
Donellan ordered every doctor in the land to look into her illness, the symptoms and it's cause.
Sylia hearing of this, assured him that she was feeling fine and that she would get better soon enough. And as she said, the following day, her condition improved and she was completely fine within the week.
This situation was odd and Donellan was confused. Luckily during the time, he had Emille his attendant at the time who was also suspicious of Sylia's sudden ailment and decided to look into it.
He was surprised to find that Sylia had purchased a strong herbal tea from the East that increased energy levels and strength. Donellan was surprised by this because Sylia was already a strong person since they were children. Although she did not actively train in swordsmanship, she knew the basics since they would train together sometimes when they were younger.
She was a lot stronger than she looked.
Just when he was about to go and question her about it, Emille found another shocking discovery. Apparently this tea was also able to induce pregnancy.
This revelation made Donellan's heart sink.