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The blackwood forest,

Tears rolled down from Jellal’s face as his hand was trembling while holding his precious daughter, the small hand reached out to him putting on his cheek as that time he crouched hiding from the monster in the forest.

The baby cried when a tear dropped on her finger, Jellal calmed the baby down.

“Don’t cry~my dear child. Don’t cry~father is here.”

He proceeded to run to the tombstone immediately, when he thought he finally made it but not everything went well as the way he thought.

The ancestor walked out of the tombstone in the form of a soul and told Jellal the harsh reality, “This baby won’t survive. Give up.”

“No!!!! You’re the first Mortel. Save me daughter, Marinette!!!” he couldn’t accept it losing his cool, he begged Herod with two of his knee kneeling down in front of him but Herod turned his back on Jellal as it was hopeless saving the child with the dark magic and death roses magic mixed together like that.

Although she wasn’t cursed, but the magic of the curse was already in her body as she stayed in the cursed woman’s womb for nine months.

“Give up that child, it’s useless. Even with your life, the chance of saving her is close to impossible.” Herod told Jellal to make him give up, but Jellal instead unsheathed his sword after putting the baby on the tombstone safely.

“What’re you doing?”

“If I can defeat you, will you save my daughter??”

“You brat!!! Have some respect for your elder, even if you’re such determined, you can’t defeat me.” said by the one who lost against Jellal ten minutes later.

He gritted his teeth in humiliation since his power wasn’t fully back then.

“Fine, I’ll save your daughter!”

“What do I have to do?”

“Take half of her magic, that way she only needs to control half of it.”

“…alright.” half of her magic was even more powerful than his current magic, taking that magic in meant his death. But Jellal couldn’t afford to give up on his child’s life.

“Good, then you must obey these conditions. One, you have to endure it till the day you die. Two, never show any love to this daughter, because if she lost her loved one, she will lose her humanity and fall into Mortel’s curse. Three, the basement, put her in there.”

“No, anything but that basement. I can pretend I don’t love her but I can’t let my daughter suffer in that basement!!”

“That basement was also the place I trained my magic. She won’t ever control this magic if she wasn’t in that place. It depends on this child, she could leave that basement in at least thirty years.”

Jellal thought for a while then agreed to all of Herod’s condition, Jellal…almost died taking half of Marinette’s magic power.

He rolled over the ground with his hand on his chest as it was even worse than any of the side effects he used to train back when he was young. To think, Marinette could live in the body with that amount of magic was shocking.

“You’d better keep her sibling from loving her too. Remember, she can’t lose her loved one.” Jellal nodded and then walked away with his saved child miserably.

The basement was still the same, when he put her in that basement, he felt like he was a failure as a father. He could already imagine how his daughter suffered in that place.

“Father’s sorry…Marinette.” he put his daughter on the bed he used to sleep in and then locked that baby in the basement.

Only a nanny was allowed to get inside the basement to take care of the baby until she could take care of herself and even the sound of his daughter crying all night, he couldn’t even step in to comfort his beloved daughter.

He sang the lullaby to calm his daughter every night, that was the only thing he could do.

That wasn’t the end of his tragedy. As the duke and the father, he had so many works to do. To help Marinette control her power, he sent Tristan to the academy at such a young age to prevent him from meeting his little sister.

Even mourning for Anette, he couldn’t have the time for that. The empire fell into chaos when the emperor’s little brother died on the day of his wedding with Catherine.

And that same day, the marquess who was Catherine’s father arrived at the duchy with his daughter with him to make a deal with Jellal with the imperial letter to pressure Jellal.

The imperial power no longer affect Jellal, but the trump card which the marquess used pushed duke Jellal into the corner. He had no other choice but to accept his proposal.

“Your little sister…lady Jessica is at my household. I’ll kill her if you don’t accept my daughter as your wife.” the marquess smirked shoving the picture of Jessica inside the tank with bubbles right into Jellal’s face.

The father and daughter left the duchy arrogantly leaving Jellal on the floor picking up that photo in disbelief.

“Anette…I don’t know anymore…I don’t know what to do without you…come back.” he kneeled in front of Anette’s big portrait inside his study room for many days miserably begging her to come back, he missed her at every second passed by even in his sleep.

But that portrait was taken away from him too, the marquess threw the portrait out when he entered the duchy like his other home. He put up the excuse that the portrait of the late duchess will hurt his daughter’s feelings.

All of the portraits were thrown away and burned down, but Jellal kept one portrait and slide it in the basement for his daughter to know her mother’s face.

The marriage between him and Catherine finally happened, he wanted to die. He wanted to follow Anette, but he couldn’t leave his children alone in the world.

Just only three months after the marriage, lady Catherine who the second prince claimed that she loved him dearly, even after he just passed away for three months, she already climbed onto Jellal’s bed.

She undressed her bathrobe in front of Jellal who was sorting out the document on his bed, she walked naked to Jellal and threw all the works across the floor.

“What’re you–” at that point, Jellal didn’t care about that woman anymore as he was only disgusted by that sight of her when she pressed her chest against his right arm.

He pushed her away and walked outside quickly but the moment when his hand was on the doorknob, he started to feel dizzy and then fell on the floor on both of his knees trying to get away from Catherine’s claw.

She made her way to Jellal and back hugged him from behind and then slid her hand to his belt to take it off.

Jellal gathered his energy to take her hand off it, but it was too late when she threw the belt across the bedroom and then unbuttoned his shirt one by one.

Jellal was losing consciousness bit by bit, he finally remembered the tea Catherine brew for him an hour ago.

“Duke, I won’t have any power…if I don’t have your baby…so please impregnate me.” her breath touch his ear as she bit it gently and then ruffled Jellal’s hair and later dragged him all the way to the top of the bed.

She leaned in closer to his lip trying to kiss Jellal’s lip but ended up receiving a slap from him. She was blown away by the slap falling down off the bed unconscious damaging her back.

He never drank anything made by that woman in the first place, he put his hand on her small neck wanting to strangle her to death but thinking about Jessica, he couldn’t do it.

He used the memory magic on her instead, that was when he found out about everything even the part in which Jessica was alive living her life plotting her revenge against him and Jessica was the one behind the curse which killed Anette.

He was in shock but could only keep searching for more and more memories that he could use against the marquess.

But there was the only one which was Catherine already had a child with the second prince. That was why she really wanted to sleep with him, it was in order to make everyone believe that child was his.

He then manipulated memories to make her believe that her plan that night was a success, she had to keep her by his side to watch over all of Jessica’s move through her memories and strikes for killing the marquess once and for all.

The next day, he kicked her out threatening her using the reason she put drugs in his tea although her plan didn’t really work, but with that punishment, she returned back to her household. He could summon her anytime if he wanted, that was their deal.

Catherine who was in the illusion that she slept with the most influenced duke in the empire, she was overjoyed and didn’t protest, she believed it because her back was lowered and assumed that she only fainted while doing it with Jellal.

Moreover, the luck was on her side since she didn’t have to hide her big belly. She can take her child back to the duchy when it was born.

She was hoping for the child to be a boy so she could take the power of the duchy from Jellal’s other kids especially Tristan.

In the meantime, Jellal planned all things needed to protect Marinette and Tristan. He wrote down the will in case he might die any day.

He wrote Tristan to become the duke and Marinette to get the military control, thus when she gets married to Richard, she will have the power for herself without relying on her husband.

But things started going on wrong when the child Catherine brought back, Diana turned out to be Jessica’s daughter instead.

The face was very similar and she could even use the Mortel magic. Tristan used the memory magic on Catherine again. And the child between her and the second prince was taken out as her life was in crisis.

Again, he was disgusted by that woman but the kid who always stood outside his study wasn’t in the wrong. He couldn’t shove all of their faults onto Diana.

He decided he should atone for his sin by taking care of Jessica’s daughter despite she was the one who killed his wife.

But nevertheless, he still cared for Marinette. But he could only love her from behind her back to never let her know. That way, she will never fall into the curse of Mortel and when the day his death comes, she won’t be sad just like the way he lost Anette.

“Papa. I made this for you!” little Marinette escaped from the basement when she was two years old, everyone in the household was searching for her like crazy. Duke Jellal almost had a heart attack because of her but turned out she was inside his study.

The book he used to read in the basement, she folded it into the crown and then put it on his head.

“Papa, it looks good on you.” her smile was precious, he was eager to hug her, and to tell her she really did beautiful work. He wanted to shower her with love and praise but he couldn’t.

That day was her birthday, he couldn’t get anything for her so instead he hugged his little daughter crying.

“Father loves you, Marinette…even if you hate me, or won’t forgive me. Just remember, this old man will love you always.” he cried hugging her.

“Papa…don’t cry…teehee~Papa look more handsome when you’re smiling.” he smiled warmly at Marinette who was wiping his tears with her small fingers.

He put the paper-crown on her small head, “You’re my little princess.” then deleted that memory from her mind. She fell asleep on his arm.

The blue sky that day as he carried his daughter outside the study’s window reminded him of his beloved wife.

“Lullaby, and good night, With pink roses bedight, With lilies overspread, Is my baby’s sweet head. Lay you down now, and rest, May your slumber be blessed. Lay you down now, and rest, May thy slumber be blessed~” he sang the lullaby he used to think together with Anette for Tristan to sleep for Marinette at least for that day, he wanted to hold his daughter fully in his arm.

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Come back to the present,

The northern empire,

“Papa!!!!!!”

“Diana, you worried me sick!!” Victor was finally relieved when seeing Diana waking up.

She shed some tears when she woke up calling Papa, when she heard the nostalgic lullaby, it was as if she used to hear that kind of thing such as lullaby.

“That lullaby…” she was awkwardly asked the white-haired man who sang that song.

“Mari–I mean Diana, what happened?? You suddenly fainted back at the street.” Victor said to her worrying about her.

“My head was quite dizzy out of the sudden…thank you, Victor for saving me…and you too, emm…” she didn’t know his name.

“I’m Oliver, my lady.” he grinned as he introduced himself to her, just as he expected, that lullaby really woke her up since he could see a person’s weakness from the start…and the one inside that body wasn’t the same person…

‘Finally, something interesting~’ Oliver smiled at Marinette who was in Diana’s body in joy.

To be continued….!