His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 78

“Be careful,” Kara whispered as she stared at her from the back door of the restaurant. Raena adjusted her hood, giving her an encouraging smile.

“Are you ready to go, Miss?”

Raena turned and smiled at Pen, who looked away awkwardly. When he first saw her without the veil, he had frozen stiff for a minute before shaking his head and asking what she needed. And when she asked him to take her to Marden’s house, he gave hera suspicious look but quickly agreed.

Once she was changed into her maid uniform and dark wig, she followed him outside and the two of them made their way through the busy streets. Few people cast her curious glances, so once she was far enough from the restaurant, she took off her hood. They walked for half an hour before Pen warned her they were veering off the main paths and took her through a labyrinth of streets that eventually brought them to a street with tall, pretty buildings which, unfortunately, seemed to have lost their battle with time. Despite their beautiful design and obviously expensive origin, most looked abandoned or fallen in neglect.

Pen finally stopped in front of the gates of one of them, glancing at her before pushing one of those wings open. The metal screeched mournfully under the pressure, moving just enough for them to slip in. The path to the house was swept and cleared of weeds, but everything beyond it had overgrown and turned into the trees and weed’s undisputed domain.

They walked for a couple of minutes until they finally saw the front door of the building. It reminded her of the brothel – before its renovation.

The coat was falling off in pieces and the color had faded into oblivion:; ivy had claimed one of the walls all the way up to the roof and most of the windows had curtains drawn – or maybe the glass was just that dirty since one could not possibly see inside.

“Over here, Miss,” Pen called and she hurried after him just as he was knocking on the door. At first, nothing happened and for a couple of minutes, they just stood there and waited. Then the sound of a door being unlocked reached their ears before someone finally appeared in front of them. A man in his late sixties, tall and gray-haired, frowned at Pen, then his eyes settled on Raena.

“Are you lost?” He asked, his question directed towards Raena.

“We are here to see Master Marden.” Pen said with confidence he didn’t show before. Raena continued to look at the man on the other side of the door – probably a butler or a servant, judging by the attire

“The Master is not accepting any visitors today. Please come another day.” The butler said, trying to close the door on them. Both Raena and Marden reached out and caught the door, forcing the old man to use his entire body to prevent them from coming in.

“We are not here to cause trouble for him,” Raena said quickly. “Please pass this message to him Don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.’ If he doesn’t want to see me after that, we’ll leave.”

The butler gave her another calculating look, then glanced at their hands. Raena pulled hers, and a few seconds later Pen followed her example. The old man slammed the door in their faces, his heavy steps disappearing inside the house.

“Now what?” Pen winced. “Can you climb? I can climb and open a window but you have to climb yourself there.”

“We are going to wait,” Raena said, pulling the cloak off her shoulders before her body melted in the heat. She then tossed it over her hand, stepping away from the door and looking up at the building.

Minutes dragged, and the sun continued to mercilessly shine over them, until finally, the key turned on the door again. Both raised their heads in hope as the door opened and a butler appeared again with an expression not nearly as hostile as before.

“Master will see you now.” He announced in a cold tone, leaving the door open and walking inside. Raena smiled at Pen and the two stepped into the cool hallway, following the butler who had already headed towards the curled staircase at the other end of the anteroom. He didn’t wait for them so they had to hurry before they lost him, stopping only after a few minutes as he waited for them in front of a door. He gave her another appraising look, then glared at the boy before walking away.

“Pen, wait here.” She told the boy, patting him on the head before slipping through the slightly ajar door. She closed it behind her, giving the big, but poorly furnished room a quick look before proceeding towards the bed. The place smelled of alcohol, b***d, and herbs, and the only sound inside came from her steps and somebody’s heavy breathing.

Biting her l*p and holding her breath while her heart drummed in her chest, she continued towards the bed with small, hesitant steps.

“Hurry up before die of old age.” A voice said from the bed, and the body that she thought was sleeping, shifted ever so slightly. When she was moved close enough, she recognized him – his eyes were sunken and red, his cheeks were pale and hollow and the way he lay in the bed suggested he was in a lot of pain, but it was really Marden. When their eyes met, he frowned. “Wait who the hell are you?”

Raena smiled, reaching up and pulling off her wig, then shaking her head to let her blonde hair fall around her face. Marden’s eyes widened, and he just stared at her with shock until eventually, he composed himself.

“Soo… a person has to be at death’s door see your face, huh?” He scoffed, then his scoff turned into a fit of coughing. “Damn, you are pretty. at least. Now I can die in peace.”

“Hey, stop with the dying talk” Raena said, walking the last few steps to the bed and taking a seat on its edge. “l’m going to get you a good doctor and somebody to take care of you. But first, tell me what happened. Why was Hale killed, and why did they go after you? Did you see their faces or recognized them?”

“I don’t remember much,” Marden replied with a grunt, trying to lift himself in a sitting position, but giving up almost immediately as his face drained from all the b***d and his eyes filled with tears. He fell back down, sweat dripping from his eyebrow, and stayed like that until his sharp breaths evened out.

“How bad is it?” She asked, her throat tightening as her eyes glided over the thick bandages covering him from his shoulders all the way to his h**s. “Are you…”

“I should have been dead, yeah,” Marden said in a weak, exhausted voice. “Any normal person would be, that’s what happens when a knife goes through your heart. But that bastard that stabbed me didn’t account for the fact that apparently, my heart is on the right side.

I smile appeared on his lips as he ran his fingers over the middle of his chest and up to the left side where the heart should be. “I’ve never been so happy to be a freak of nature.

“Oh, thank god.” Raena sighed with relief, feeling her shoulders droop. “So your life is out of danger?”

“Well, to be honest, with a killer on the loose, I am not feeling very safe,” Marden murmured, covering his eyes with his hand. “Gods, getting stabbed sucks so much, I’d rather not have s*x ever again than getting stabbed again.’ Raena smiled. If he could still make his lame jokes, this meant he was going to live. That was a big relief.

“I think it’s going to be better if you’re dead.” She mumbled and Marden pulled his hand suddenly, staring at her with wide eyes and a fearful expression. Realizing just then how that sounded, Raena raised her hands in surrender, only to have him flinch in panic. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean it like that. Please calm down.” Marden gave her a suspicious glance but slowly let his hand down, which he had raised as if to protect himself. “What I mean is, you’re right. The person who stabbed you is still out there and if they hear you’re alive, they might come after you again. So it might be safer for you if everyone thinks you’re dead.

“Your mind must be a scary place,” Marden mumbled with a tense expression. “But if we announce I am dead, there will be a lot of complications. My title and my land and this place.. I don’t have an heir so the crown will take everything and I might not be able to get it back. And the brothel – I have papers that will transfer it to Arissa to manage, but I have not submitted them fully to…”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll take care of it. You won’t be losing your title, lands, or the brothel.”

She smiled. “You’ll only have to stay hidden for some time.”

Marden gave her a long, thoughtful look, studying her face, then her clothes as if seeing her for the first time.

“Who exactly are you?” He asked at the end.

“Are you sure you want to know? It might put you in even more danger.” Raena asked with a sad smile, getting from the bed and taking a few awkward steps.

“Might as well.” Marden snorted. “Come on, at least tell me your name. You can’t deny such a simple request coming from a mortally wounded person.”

“Fine.” She sighed, turning to face him. “My name is Raena. Raena Magrath.” She said, making a quick curtsy. As she raised her head, he was staring at her with narrowed eyes, as if trying to figure out where he had heard the name. A few seconds later, when the realization hit him, his eyes widened with disbelief.

“A freaking princess?”

He exclaimed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just kill me now and let’s get this over with.”

“Stop being so overdramatic.” Raena sighed, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like anything to change.”

“Um, yeah. It does, if I want to have a long uncomplicated life.” He snapped. “What if you decide to have me executed tomorrow because of all the stupid s**t l said and tried to do to you? A princess! A married one at that. Oh gods, if your husband replaces out I tried to k**s you, he’ll gut me from top to bottom then left to right, just to be sure.

“Marden. Calm down.” Raena sighed, coming closer to the bed. “You know who I am better than most people, probably better than my husband. I came here, disguised as a maid and without any protection, to check on you. Do you really think I’ll have you executed? That’s why I didn’t want my identity known. People are always in a rush to assume things and it’s exhausting. You know what that feels like, don’t you?”

He gave her a dry look, then sighed in Surrender.

“Fine.” He said then suddenly covered his eyes. “Gods, this explains so much. The money, the connections, the royal family showing up in your restaurant like it’s the most natural thing in the world,”

“They didn’t know my identity then. And all the money I used was mine – or my brother’s. So don’t you give my credits to the royal family.” She frowned, and he raised his hands in surrender. “Anyway, I need to go back. Are we in agreement about your ‘death’?” She waited for him to nod, then smiled. “Great. I’ll spread the word. I’ll keep the brothel closed for a few days in memory of your death, then I’ll have it reopen and try to do some promotion. I might need to tell Arissa the truth, she was a mess when l was there earlier. You get some proper rest and warn your butler not to let anyone in. And.”

“I.. Raena.” Marden said awkwardly, and she trailed off, looking at him. “There is one thing need you to do.” She frowned a little at the sudden seriousness of his tone, then nodded. “That night when we found Hale stabbed, he said something to me. He was already a goner, but he said a few words. ‘Note’, ‘bed’ and ‘danger’. I was drunk and I couldn’t figure it out then and then I got stabbed and… I think he left a note in his room, somewhere around the bed. And I think that note contained information about something he overheard. He wanted to make a report a few days before his death, but I was busy and I didn’t pay attention. Go and replace it. If it’s worth killing over it, it might be worth knowing about it. But be careful since whoever attacked me might be watching the place. You can’t get caught or they might come after you too.”

Raena stared at him for a second, her heart racing like crazy, then she forced a smile on her lips.

“Alright. Which room was his?”