Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Your highness, the knights are tired. It has been two days since we started riding. Shall we take a break?" Arden looked exhausted, his face was flushed red due to the cold and continuous riding.

Leo stared at all the knights following him and sighed. They all looked like if they continued the journey, they would get sick any moment and then they would take longer to rest.

"Alright, then we will rest here for the night. Ask the knights to set the tents and arrange meals for everyone." wave of relief washed over the face of Arden who nodded his head and turned his horse towards the knights.

Soon they all stopped and set the tents. They collected wood from the woods and then lit fire.

They all sat around and took a deep breath. Their faces looked pale and exhausted as many had not rested since months.

Soon the meat was cooked, they ate it with merriment. Leo was kind enough to give them wine and food that Chris had given him for his journey and soon everyone returned to their tents to get some sleep.

Leo was alone sitting near the fire. Its flames were dancing in his eyes. He felt a strange sensation in his heart when the images of him and Evan started to form in front of his eyes.

It made him restless. He felt like someone was clutching his chest so hard that he was not able to take a breath.

"I.." soon tears started to form in his eyes and he lost consciousness.

"Child!" he heard a soft whisper and he looked around with confusion. He felt like his mother had called him.

It has been ages since he heard her voice last.

"Child, wake up! I do not have much time." came the soft whisper again when he sat up with a start.

He looked around to see a fading face of a woman but he did not recognize her.

The woman looked at him with eyes filled with tears.

"Son, what if your name?" she asked in a soft voice that trembled him.

He felt the strange feeling increasing in his chest as if he was in deep pain. It hurt so damn much that he was not able to speak at all.

"L.leeeoo!" It took him a lot of strength to speak that much but the pain was not relieved.

"I am glad." said the woman walking closer in that silver light and smiled at him, "the name suits you well, my child!"

Just as the words left her mouth, tears started to roll off his eyes too.

He did not believe yet a tiny part of his heart shouted that she was his mother.

"You are right. This helpless woman who was never able to take care of you is your mother." a look of defeat filled her eyes and her eyes turned dim.

"But i am glad that you are well taken care of! I am glad that you have a wife now. But…" she stopped when Leo, who was still confused about everything thing and looked in a trance, turned vigilant.

His eyes sharpened and he looked at the woman with vigilant eyes.

"But.. what?" he asked in a sharp voice that trembled the woman. She looked upset and her eyes looked around but did not match him.

"But your wife is in danger!" she stopped when she felt the bloodlust from him, "someone is giving her poison to kill your child. I can sense it.

If it continued, she could die and so could the child. You do not have much time left." she continued even after such a strong pressure emitting his body.

His face continued to lose its colors and in the end it looked like he would kill someone.

"Who is that bastard?" he asked as his hands reached for his sword but there was none that surprised him.

"I can not bring materialistic things to my world. It already took all my energy to bring you here." her voice was strained and her face was losing the silver light it had in the start.

"There are spies in the palace who want to kill your wife and child.

That cruel emperor was the reason. You have to get rid of him if you want to live a better life." she added that with a long pause.

"I am sorry for not giving you company. I know that you have been curious about us and then disappointed that we have abandoned you but i wanted to tell you that is not the case.

I wanted to be with you and see you growing up. I loved you a lot.

But I was not able to. I do not want you to be a part of the dark world." she stole her dance but then looked at him abruptly.

"But your daughter… she had your blood. She would have the powers that I have sealed in you." she added with a look of worry.

"What kind of powers?" he asked abruptly. Even he had felt darkness seeping in his skin but whenever Evan came closer to him, he get rid of that feeling.

"You have the power of darkness but I have sealed it well. It will never worry you until you lose your soul.

But I can see how brightly it shines. But your daughter. She was born with powers.

If not handled well, she is going to suffer a lot. Whenever she would be upset or criticized in her life, she would lose control and her powers would take over her.'' She sat closer when she noticed a lot of questions in his eyes.

"I wish I could have explained much, but I did not have much time left. I have to teleport you to your wife.

Do not let her eat anything that was not cooked by her or you. At this moment, you can not trust anyone and give love to my granddaughter.

She would be your source of light."