The Grand Duke's Soulmate
Chapter 51: A Couple’s Fight

Chapter 51: A Couple’s Fight

The surging turmoil Kyren had was now replaced with forlornness. Sitting on the chair, he had been staring blankly in the quiet tent for quite some time. His mind kept drifting to the strained quarrel he had with Anna today.

’I hate you!’

The three words that came out of her quivering lips pierced through him like a rodden dagger, slicing and ravaging without mercy.

He had always been resilient with his tough character, demanding and despicable in his own way. Though many adored him for his good looks, some loathed him, so it was common for the grand duke to be the centre of attention for admiration and hatred. He could not care less for either one of them.

Not until today.

Not until the words slid out of her mouth.

The pain was immense. He could not understand why the simple sentences from her could hurt him like this. He had previously heard numerous phrases of abomination thrown at him with even harsher expressions, but they did not even graze him a bit.

Not even once.

However, his heart shook terribly when Anna uttered them with her hardened emerald eyes. Her red face tightened into a snarl as angry tears trickled down her reddened cheeks when she said those words. She even ran off, refusing to stay in his presence.

Kyren suddenly burst into a peal of laughter. To be precise, he was laughing at himself.

The Knight Commander of Gerhard, a gallant warrior, felt tremendous pain from just three mere words from his wife. He had become a big fat joke by having himself hurt by a petite, frail woman who could not even wield a sword.

’Why am I feeling this? Just what kind of sorcery did she cast on me?’

He kept asking the same questions but failed to satisfy himself with satisfying answers. All he could think of was how she last looked at him.

Those shimmering eyes had a different, inexplicable flame than she usually had when she gazed at him.

Those sweet pink lips had lost the radiant smile that she always threw at him.

And those blushed, plump cheeks like red apples that he loved so much were no longer due to her shyness.

Kyren’s head bowed, shoulders sagged, and his gaze fell to his feet. He saw the big, sturdy boots he wore. They were the ones he used to crush the flowers Anna loved.

He hated them.

No! The truth was... he hated himself for hurting her.

It was he who made her cry and said the hateful words. All because of him, and he knew it very well.

He once promised her that he would protect her from any harm. However, today, his words and actions hurt her deeply. In the aftermath, he too was wounded by his behaviour.

Nevertheless, he could not evade the burning sensation in his heart. The thought of another person wooing his wife and trying to covet her boiled his blood and almost made him lose his mind.

"Anna..." his lips uttered the woman’s name.

Then, his clear thoughts came back as if risen from a deep immersion in the sea of emotions. His eyes darted around.

As the sun sank, the atmosphere matched its colour with the coming darkness. The tent was getting dimmer with no lanterns on.

Realising this, the commander stood up. A sudden chill ran down his spine. The night was about to settle in, and his wife was not back yet.

"Anna!"

Kyren’s strides leapt in the air immediately without further thinking.

***

The camp was again in an uproar when the commander’s shouting dinned unpleasantly in the air.

"Where’s my wife?" he howled.

His steps were unsteady as he pranced around, looking for her. The figure of his wife was nowhere to be seen.

Eric came rushing in at the yelling. When he saw the commander’s face covered in terror, he knew something terrible had happened.

"She’s not back yet?" the brunette knight asked Kyren with round eyes.

"No! God d*mn it! Where the h*ll is she? Where’re her escorts?" The furious tone drummed the knight’s ears.

Kyren wiped his face several times with shivering hands. He was as pale as a corpse, and as if he was slit with a blade, not even a drop of blood would come out.

The commander was about to order a search when a squire came running to him.

"Commander, Sir Henderson returned to the camp previously. He... he requested Sir McQuinn’s horse to... to be added with a pillion saddle. Then, he left with the horses," the squire’s voice stuttered as he conveyed the matter to the commander and the second-in-command knight.

"What?" Kyren’s heart, which was already pounding rampantly, accelerated upon hearing the reply.

The explanation clearly conveyed the message to him; Anna had left the camp with her escorts.

"It can’t be!" Kyren shook his head fervently.

Anna could not simply leave without a reason. The commander’s chest heaved heavily as his nostrils flared with his breath. He gripped his hands tightly to hold the surging emotion.

"Bring me my horse, now!"

’Drooop.... droop... drooop....’

At that moment, dropping sounds reverberated in the air from a distance. The noise became sharper as it got nearer. It was undeniably the sound of horses’ hooves cantering to the camp.

Unheeding of the others, Kyren ran off to the entrance. Two silhouettes of riders emerged from the darkened surroundings. From the lit-up torches near the gates, he finally saw them.

The fast thumping of the commander’s heart subsided as Anna’s figure filled his sight. When the warhorses low-paced their movements, he hurried to them immediately.

"Anna!"

As soon as the warhorse halted, Kyren pulled her down without waiting. He clasped his arms around her and sank her head into his chest.

Anna could not see his face. However, she could feel his solid body shudder from the nervous rhythm as he held her firmly. She almost yelped from the tightening grasp as he crushed her figure to his.

It took a moment before the commander finally released his wife from the embrace. He cupped her small face with his large hands and tilted her head.

"Are you all right? Where have you been?"

His eyes darted at her sharply without blinking.

"I’m all right. I have an urgent matter, so I asked the escorts to take me somewhere," she replied.

It would be best if she admitted that she was the one who insisted the two knights take her for the ride rather than telling the truth. It would spare them from being the centre of her husband’s wrath. At least, she thought so.

However, the outcome was far from her expectations.

"You!"

Kyren turned his head to Damon, glaring at the knight with a murderous look. His large hands released Anna’s face, and he strode to his subordinate in a quick move.

"Commander, I —"

’Thudd!’

The big fist smashed the knight’s face, and his body flopped to the ground from the massive blow. Blood spewed from his nose and mouth.

"Aaaaaaaa!" Anna screamed in a high-pitched tone at the provocation.

"Get up! You dare take my wife away!" Kyren bellowed to Damon.

He pulled up the knight’s collar with sheer force and landed several other punches.

"Kyren, no!" Anna shouted again.

Shivering in fright, her tears streamed down her cheeks, but she barely noticed them. All she could think of was her husband, who had turned violent again.

"Commander, let us explain!" Eli, who was utterly nervous, pleaded.

However, when he approached him, a slap landed hard on his face, and his body flew to the ground. The sudden hit made his ear buzz, and his cheek burned with pain.

"Hold the commander!"

Fearing for the safety of the two escorts, Eric quickly ordered the other three high-ranking knights to seize and grasp the grand duke. Those two escorts would become dead meat tonight if no one stopped him.

Anna rushed to Damon, sprawled on the ground with his face covered in blood, and knelt before him. Her tears ran down continuously as she looked at her wounded escort.

"How could you do this, Kyren? How could you?" she cried out.

At that moment, Ayden and Rafe came running with Alex and Drystan. The commotion had reached them as they heard the lady’s scream.

"Oh, my God!" Ayden covered his mouth when he saw what had happened.

The princess was crying profusely while Damon lay on the ground helplessly. Eli was on the side, recovering from the dizziness from the slap, while four knights were holding the commander from exerting his rage.

"Let me go! I’ll teach them a lesson for taking her away!" Kyren growled.

"Commander, calm down!" Garin, one of the knights holding the prince’s shoulder, shouted to him.

Rafe was speechless. Alex and Drystan at his side also did not dare to say a word, looking at their dreadful commander.

Anna lifted her head. Her eyes were already swollen from the tears she had shed. A look of disappointment fell on Kyren from her expression.

Slowly, she stood up, approached the raging commander with every courage she could muster, and wiped her cheeks.

"It’s all my fault. I’m the one responsible for all this! I wanted to go out. I asked them to take me to Mistdale. So, please punish me instead of them!"

Kyren glared at her as he stopped wriggling in the grasp of his men.

"You went to Mistdale? Don’t tell me you went to see the boy!"

"I did. I made a dumb mistake and was trying to make amends," she sniffled.

"Commander. There’s a reason for this. Please listen!" Eli entreated.

"Shut up!"

A stunned silence filled the air. Ayden wanted to approach Damon and take him away, but Rafe quickly prevented him. The commander’s wrath had not subsided, and it would only make things worse if he got irritated again. The healer signalled him to wait.

"Let me go, Eric." Kyren’s voice was low with some eerie calmness. He no longer struggled to let loose.

"Commander..." The knight lost his speech seeing him in such a way.

"I’ll spare them tonight," the commander answered, knowing what the knight was worried about.

Eric finally let go of his grip. The other three knights followed suit.

The grand duke stared intensely at his wife. The anger on his face was gone, and all that was left was a look of dejection. It was difficult to determine who was hurt most by the rising conflict.

Was it him? Her? Or the escorts?

All of them might think he was the meanest for initiating the physical attacks. However, no one realised his heart was torn to pieces, knowing she sought another person despite his dislike.

"So, you really like the boy, huh?" he inclined his head as he asked.

"No, Kyren! I —"

"You cared about him, the sick foragers, and even your escorts. You cared about everyone’s feelings except for me!" The spoken words stabbed her deeply.

"That’s not true!"

"Go back to the tent! From now on, you’re not allowed to come out!" he spat out the sudden order viciously.

"What?" Anna’s eyes widened.

The other men’s faces, witnessing the commotion, were drawn with shock.

"Don’t let me repeat myself, Anna!" His voice reflected in an icy tone.

"Are you imprisoning me?" she asked in disbelief.

"You’re my wife! You belong to me! I’ll do whatever I want with you!"

Despite the misery, the commander had made up his mind. Regardless of how painful it was, he would never let her go.

Anna closed her eyes. The extreme punishment he imposed on her felt like a whip beating her skin and tearing her flesh. The streak of her tears kept rolling down.

She now understood one thing from his words; that she was only a property belonging to him.

Anna opened up her reddened eyes and glared back at Kyren. Her lips parted, and with sunken emotion, she replied, "No!"

"What did you say?"

The princess’s eyes were determined.

"No! I don’t want to! As you said under the Elm tree, I’m your wife, not a prisoner!"

"Anna Raychard!" Kyren shouted her name in full. He felt the urge to seize her immediately and carry her to his tent.

"You promised you won’t force me to do anything I don’t want to!"

Anna gripped her shaken hands. She knew she was defying him. However, she could not accept the fact that he wanted her to live in solitude. She had that kind of life before and knew how miserable it was.

Kyren gritted his teeth. Now, his wife was showing her true colours to him. The weak-looking lady was none other than a hard-headed woman.

"Fine! Don’t bother coming back to the tent! You can sleep outside all night!"

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