Love Is Never Ugly

Chapter 72

It had been three months since Charlotte had returned to the castle and during that time, her father could feel nothing but remorse. He could not help but spend every waking moment remembering the words his daughter had said to him. Calling him out for how he had treated her in the exact same manner he and his late wife had been treated by their own parents. He couldn't forget the look of utter betrayal and heartbreak in her eyes. Oh what he had done? How could he have been so cruel to his beloved child? He was certain that he would never see her again and he had no one else to blame for such a loss except himself.

As for his other daughter, things had not been in her favor since Charlotte's departure either. For starters, her brother was now dead and had left her nothing of his fortune. The will specifically said that she was not to get one coin. Everything was in his stepfather's name, it was another attempt to butter up Lucifer into choosing Seviathan as a potential son in-law. Had Seviathan married Charlotte, he would have changed beneficiary of the will back to himself. And when Helsa attempted to get her greedy paws on the fortune, Lucifer finally put his foot down.

"From now on if you want any form of income, you'll have to work for it." He had told her.

Then her husband Baxter had made the decision to divorce her. To most divorce was a very shameful and embarrassing thing but Baxter realized that while he could live with humiliation, he couldn't live with Helsa for another minute. Of course she was furious, she screamed and threw stones at him but he stood firm with his choice.  How relieved he was when the separation was finally made at the end of those three months.

"I can't believe you're leaving me!" She said when he stopped by to visit her father one afternoon. "How can you leave me?!"

"Easy." Baxter replied. "You're a greedy, lying, manipulative shrew who made me miserable throughout our entire marriage!"

"Father are you going to let him speak to me that way?" Helsa snapped.

"Well dearest it isn't as if his words are slander." Lucifer replied. "But watch yourself Baxter."

"My apologies sir." Baxter said. Helsa I am sorry things did not end well between us but truth be told we weren't happy in our marriage. It was for the best that it ended."

"Fine! Leave me!" Helsa said. "But remember this you little worm, no other woman will even give you a second glance, let alone have you for a husband."

"That's what I thought in the beginning, hence why I stayed married to you for as long as I did. But it turns out I was wrong. You see I've met someone. Someone warm, caring, and she doesn't care at all about my money. In fact we are equals in matters of income."

"I don't believe that. What woman in her right mind would want you for any reason other than your money?"

"Well you can see for yourself at the wedding."

"Ugh! So to add insult to injury, you're inviting me to witness you getting married to another woman?!"

"Oh no it's not my wedding." Baxter then pulled two invitations from his coat pocket. "That's why I'm here, to deliver these to you and your father. We've all been invited to a royal wedding."

"Oh?" Lucifer said. "Strange. We do not know anyone of royal blood. Who is getting married?"

"All it says is that the prince of a neighboring kingdom, which was long thought to be deserted, is to marry the most beautiful woman in all the world within a fort night. It's supposed to be the biggest event of the season."

"How interesting." Lucifer said. "But I do not understand why we have been invited. Are they associates of yours?"

"I haven't met the couple. I only know their servant and she told me that bride specifically wanted you and Helsa there."