Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"clatter!" the pen that was still in his hands fell on the floor and so did his senses.

William was looking at the men as if they were speaking a strange language, he could not understand.

His face had gone ashen yet not a single word came out from it.

The man looked at each other, hesitating if they should continue or not. If anything happened to the duke, they would not be able to take responsibility.

What if..!

"My lord, we request you to please hold yourself. We are here to inform you that we know the whereabouts of your first child. And whenever you want, we can bring him home." The voice was slower, as if giving an old man time to digest the truth.

William's eyes flickered but his face turned cold. He narrowed his eyes on their faces and then chuckled with no humor on his face.

"Now I remember, you are the knights working in the royal palace. I have seen you a few times there!

Do you think I am a fool to believe in you? Your sudden appearance in the royal court as if it was a public garden where anyone can roam as per his wish and you disappeared creating a doubt in my heart.

Then coming to my palace directly and telling me my first child was swapped too.

Do you think I am a fool to believe in it?" even a fool could realize that the royal family was against him after so many events.

Then did they think that he was worse than a fool?! His dominating aura became stronger and the intent to burn the whole royal palace was evident in his eyes.

"Tell your majesty that if he did not stop plotting against my family then I would forget who he is and claim the throne for myself only to burn it later!

The Thawyne family have never claimed the throne because they respect their ancestors and their wishes. But it does not mean that we are cowards.

So, it would be better if they stop throwing stones in the den of wolves.`` The threat was clear, if they would not leave then he would cook them for dinner.

The horror could be seen in their eyes. They have known that he would not believe that easily but who would have thought that he would be ready to attack them.

"Your highness, you should watch your words as they would be announced as treason." warned one of them hiding the fear in his eyes only to get a humorous laugh in return.

"Do you think I care about that? My family is strong enough to trample them. Isn't it the reason they are trying to subdue us?" taken aback by the confidence of the duke, the knights did not know how to continue.

Their faces had turned a bit paler as they cursed their luck to deal with him.

"Even so, you should not act recklessly. More than that, we are not working for your majesty but his highness, Andrew la De Abella.

He is loyal to your family till the end. But if you still have doubts then you can test it. I am sure you know that.

But if you still wanted to decline the offer of meeting that young man, then we understand. We will leave and not a single word of the whole conversation will go out." without waiting for the reply, both of them stood up and bowed their heads lightly as they turned to leave.

"Master, are you alright?" Theo was so stunned that he did not utter a single word during the whole conversation until they left.

But looking at his master, he felt perplexed.

Knowing that the child you have patiently grown up with love and care and nurtured him or her to be a kind person painstakingly is not yours when you have spent half of your life only thinking about him was heartbreaking.

But the master is facing the same situation twice in less than a year. How could he take his love from them away to the new girl and boy.

Lady Evangeline, who had spent a month here finally getting recognition from the staff and society but even she was not accepted completely and now another!

"Master if you want, we can bring master from the backdoor and take care of him as an adopted child." telling the world that another child of Thawyne family was swapped would only bring mocking laughter.

There were already many fingers on them, if the truth would come out..

William did not speak or reacted even when he was called so many times. A reel of images of the time he had spent with Eli was passing through his eyes.

She was his first child. Of course, she was the most pampered one. He had so much enthusiasm when she started walking, when she called him father for the very first time and… a horde of images came flooding his heart and eyes that he could not explain.

He had laughed with her, cried with her, taught her everything he knew and more than that, he had always felt proud of her and cherished her.

The thought that she was not his was paining her more than Leo was not his. As if all the founding stones of his life were crumbling one by one and if it continued, it would not take long before he would fall down completely.

A tear formed in his hard eyes that seemed to be less of emotions and cold as he closed them and took a deep sigh.

These days he was aging a decade every passing day.

"Master, I will handle the matter, you do not need to worry!" Theo could feel the effect on his master and was worried if anything happened to him when he finally opened his eyes.

"You are taking me too weak! Go and prepare the carriage we are going to meet the crown prince."