Chapter 10.

¿Exchanges?

Night fell and day arrived… the king and the duke walked peacefully through the gardens of the duchy exchanging informal conversations; to ease the tension between them a little, the king asked the duke if he had children or had ever thought of getting married, to which the duke simply answered that he had a son who would inherit the duchy, but now he was a small child of 3 years old, so the king asked him if he would meet him at some point, so the duke exclaimed that it was possible to meet him, but that first they had to wait a couple of hours for them to return from their trip, since his mother had taken him to see the coasts because they wanted to collect seashells to play with and enjoy the beach a little, and laughing the king answered: he must be a very naughty child, it is a shame that you did not accompany him, to which the duke replied: I would also be on the beach if it were not because I have to attend the visit of his majesty the king; and at this, he asked him: ¿and have you thought about marrying the mother of the child or have you married a secret?, but the duke told him being sincere: I like to have many lovers, it is more fun to have one per day I do not like to repeat faces, but let's say that she is special, she is the only one that I like to be the mother of my children, the others are only a pleasant moment one night and then I do not remember their names... and mockingly the king said to him: that promiscuity of yours will lead you to big problems, but the duke told him: that is something that I already know, but ¿what would life be without a little action? ¿Wouldn't it be very boring to live a life so quiet and without problems? 

It is easier to have a life that is like a puzzle to put together than to have everything ready and calm and live bored... the king understood this, therefore, he said to him: then ¿what do you think if we exchange some things from the duchy with the kingdom? he said: I like the idea that you have in mind... of course we can reach an agreement, to which Cyprian V agreed and said: I have heard that this place is quite famous for the education that some nobles receive from some artists; and the duke said to him: ¿Do you mean the ladies of the mansion? The king nodded in response, but you have to know one thing, first of all they are artists in every word, they paint, dance, cook, write, know about literature and even sports, they know medicine very well, but first of all, at night they usually give away charms exclusively for men regardless of their age, as long as they have the purchasing power to pay for their services, since they are so to speak, the most sought after among all women who can dedicate themselves to it, then the king answered him: it is the first time I hear that women like that also dedicate themselves to satisfying a man, usually I only knew the peasants and some slaves who did it, but you can not compare an artist with the crowd, because the ladies of the mansion know everything and you can hold conversations with them for hours on various topics, however, the average ones do not even know how to write, much less speak and most are full of diseases, that is why there are levels and the average cannot be an artist.

And changing the subject, the king also asked him about the training that the guards maintained, since it was well known that the men who trained within the duchy surpassed their strength at other levels, so a man could take down five people with great ease, while a normal guard from another kingdom would have a hard time overcoming it, then the duke told him: we can exchange training between both armies, I would only have to send three of my best guards to train your troops and they are not just three, they are the three best who have won in wars, they have fought for other kingdoms and they are faithful and loyal, they will always give their best in any mission that is entrusted to them, then the king told him: perfect, then send your best guards to train my army, because lately I have realized that my army needs to learn many strategies, he smiled and said: ¿is there anything else that you want to do an exchange on or will it only be these two things? The king told him: for now we will leave it with these two things, later something will occur to me .

I will certainly let him know, in the meantime I would like to see the city; and Blake, being a good host, said to him: perfect, I will prepare what is necessary to take him through the city, then the king said to him: I would like something quieter, a couple of horses will be enough, and so it was, the duke ordered two horses to be prepared while the king looked at some butterflies that flew over some roses and when he stretched out his hand to take one of these, he pricked his fingers with the thorns and a butterfly landed on his hand as calm as if there was nothing to fear, that everything was calm, but the king closed his hand into a fist, crushing the innocent butterfly. After this sad event, he shook his hand off and returned to his room.

On the other hand, Delfina had urgently received a letter from the Duke, asking her to bring the child along with some seashells. This strange request made the woman frown and say to herself: ¿has he lost his mind again? ¿Although he was already crazy... some seashells? I cannot understand what is going through the duke's mind. So, without giving the matter any more thought, she asked one of her maids to go to the village and ask the fishmonger to sell her some fresh shells, and following the instructions given in the letter, she persuaded his son to first of all say that they had been picked up on the beach, and once they arrived at the duchy, the boy got out of the carriage excitedly calling his father to show him the shells he had collected on the beach while curious eyes watched from afar that beautiful interaction, then the king wondered internally if when he recovered his wife and son, he would have the same emotion that the duke has at this moment when he carries both of them while they hug and kiss him; and only because of that he felt jealousy and disappointment, he asked himself ¿why his wife had to be selfish and make him go through these bad times when he was never cruel and much less violent with her?

 Yes, it is true that on more than one occasion he lost his temper and shouted, but ¿why couldn't she act like a normal woman who cares and is submissive and faithful to her husband, but on the contrary, she liked to play with rabbits and paint pictures without any purpose? She was the one who was wrong because she couldn't accept her role as a wife and even less as lovers, but even so, she still belonged to him until her last breath and that was the only reality that he was going to accept no matter where they were... she would at some point, sooner or later return to his arms in one way or another, whether by good or by bad, because she belonged to him.

The old man Erick, careful not to say something that could anger the king like the last time, said in a low voice: your majesty, I think the duke's lover has arrived and with her a child, ¿don't you think it's a good idea to go and say hello for a moment? So he said: Fine, you can go walking, I'll catch up with you in a moment, and said and done so it was, the old man arrived at the living room where the duke and his lover were with their son and informed them that the king  would come in a moment to say hello and the duke very smiling said to him: then allow me to introduce you to one of my lovers named Delfina and my son named Brett Claous, thus, the old man greeted the woman and the child very formally and sat at one of the table games that were there to have tea to wait for the king to arrive and when the king finally entered the child exclaimed ¡WOW! You look a bit like one of my new little friends; and raising one of his eyebrows the king smiled at him and said: then that little friend of yours has to be very handsome, so the innocent child told him: he is the most beautiful of all the children I have seen; Delfina immediately realizing the situation took the child in her arms and nervously with a small bow to the king immediately said: the child her son was talking about was the son of a maid, but he was not even close to as incredible as his majesty the king was; the old man from afar realized the situation and seeing the calmness with which the duke acted he suddenly felt curious to meet this child, but he did not say anything, he only remained silent, because the attitude of the duke's lover was also very strange, she looked nervous, but the question here ¿would be what woman would not get nervous in front of the king?