Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"You do not need to worry about anything. I will handle the matter. If asked, you just have to say that you do not want to be the concubine. Okay?" This was the umpteenth time when her father had told her the same statement. Yet she nodded obediently. 

She knew that her father was worried about her. She would lie if she said that she was not! But yet she behaved bravely as she did not want to worry her father further. She turned and looked out of the window. She had crossed this path to reach the palace many times in the past too, but there had always been anticipation to meet the crown prince, to complete her training and learn the etiquettes of the palace. This was the first time she was going to end all of that.

Yet she did not know how to feel about it. An invisible power started to clutch her heart. She started feeling suffocated yet the smile did not leave her face.

"A true lady never shows her defeat to the world!" she still remembered her aunt's words, who had given most of the training to be a lady! Her face turned calm and serene as if the matter had nothing to do with her, she was just a spectator.

She could see a horde of knights and maids came to welcome them. Her welcome to the palace had always been grandiose but this time it felt it was extraordinarily different! Why did she feel like their faces were strained?

She ignored their reluctant faces and turned to look forward at the entrance when the carriage entered the palace. She could see the man who had come to pass the message to them standing on the door. His face had the same evil smirk on her face. She knew what he wanted, what they all wanted.

When the carriage finally stopped a group of knights came forward and opened the door for her and her father. All the maids bowed their heads in unison while standing in the two parallel lines on each side. They both came out of the carriage and once again William passed her an assuring smile. 

His repeating assurances were only telling her how worried her father was! Guilt filled her heart when she saw him getting scorned by the chancellors who did not even have the courage to look at them in the past! When they crossed the entrance and entered the palace. A number of men could be seen waiting for them.

"Your highness, his majesty is waiting for you in the royal court." a man with the uniform of vice chancellor came and bowed his head as he welcomed them in.

Her father nodded and then held her arms in his. He smiled with confidence as they walked towards the long and narrow path that would lead them towards the royal court. It was the sitting room of his majesty where he made all his important decisions. 

The maids continued to bow their heads and greet her when they crossed them. Soon they could hear the sounds coming from the royal court. Her steps halted for a second when she heard the laughter of a woman from inside. Her eyes were filled with shock and his face turned ugly. 

But she recovered in a fraction of second, before her father could even notice the changes in her. She was back to normal!

Her eyes were the first to search for the lady whose laughter was reverberated in the corridors and as she had thought, the princess of Danstintian Empire, princess Adelide, was sitting on the chair of the visitors. Her green eyes were twinkling when she was smiling. Her face had bloomed in the shade of deeper pink and her golden hair, adorned with flowers instead of heavy jewels, was looking breathtaking. As she heard, she was a natural beauty. Even in her simple dress, and without much jewels, her smiling face and her fairy skin was glowing.

Even as a woman, ELi was not able to move her gaze away from the mesmerizing face of Adelaide. But Eli had thought that Andrew would be sitting behind Adelaide too. But even when her eyes searched for the whole palace, she was not able to find him!

"Ah! You are finally here! I had thought that you were going to reject my invitation for tea when you did not arrive on time!" came the musical voice of the emperor who looked at them with a kind smile.

'We would have come earlier if we would have known about the invitation in advance! You had only inhabited us a few hours ago and we had left the palace right after then. We did not even change our clothes and yet he was behaving as if we had made him wait for a long time!' she wanted to rub the truth on the face of his majesty. Yet she knew it would only create further arguments!

"We apologize for keeping you waiting, my load. The invitation was rather unexpected!" came the blunt reply of William Thawyne who had read the eyes of his daughter. He did not want her to bow down her head. It was the misfortune of the royal family that they lost such a great woman as the empress and the prince lost such a loving wife.

"Aah! Did the messenger not reach on time? It's a pity! Come in anyways!" their faces turned ugly as he had asked them to enter only now! They were already inside the room and his invitation was a comment that they come in before taking permission from his majesty as if the room belonged to him.

William gently rubbed the arms of his daughter to assure her that he would handle to end her anxiety. 

"Thank you, your majesty, for inviting us today. I was even thinking of pleading for a meeting with you for a few days. But i had never thought that we would discuss the matter in front of the strangers!"

"........"