Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Father, have you called for me?" Ethan entered the room after knocking the door at once only to see that Leo was already standing on the other side of the corner while Eli was sitting on the sofa with a grim expression on her face.

William raised his head and nodded. His expressions were cold and his whole face hard and rigid. He had never seen his father so angry , though it had only been a short time since he had started living here.

"This is a family meeting. We have always taken every decision together. Even if we did not agree with each other. We make sure to respect each other's feelings and listen to their view points.

Since you are the eldest son of the family, your view matters too!" eldest son! A wave of pride filled his face and he beamed. This was the first time his father had accepted him as his child, much less the eldest one.

With a broad smile on his face, he nodded and sat beside Eli. but when he noticed the glum faces of everyone, he hid his smile hurriedly and adjusted his facial expressions.

The whole room was silent as if an explosion had happened a few minutes ago. The smell of gunpowder was in the air. All of their expressions were stale. They looked like they would tear down each other if aggravated.

"Is it about that envoy?" he asked quietly but felt the murderous intent of everone on him at instant. So, he was right! It was about Leo and that man who was kissing her passionately.

"Father, I did not understand why she could not marry the prince. If you are worried, you can investigate and then make a decision but if you would just refuse outrightly, then it would be wrong with Evelyn who had a right to choose her life partner like all of us.

Since when have you become a tyrant who thinks a woman could not take her decision like his majesty? Have you not always criticized him for his actions and now you are repeating the same!" her voice was full of accusations. She tried to maintain her calm but agitation could be heard in it.

The fact that Evelyn was not even present there when they all were deciding her future brought her on the edge.

"Watch your tone, Eli!" The cold and snarky comment of Leo silenced her. "I understand that you are worried about Eve. we all are, i have sent Evan to talk to her and it is her decision to not come and discuss the matter.

You can not blame father for that. She is being rude and so is you." he added as he did not like how they both did not understand that they were doing everything for only both of them. If they were not taken care of by their family then who would take care of them.

"As far as it is about Chris, the second prince. You know that he is not a trustable person. He had run away from his palace twice just for fun.

Not only that, he was not going to inherit the post of emperor or duke. He is just going to be the shadow of the emperor all his life.

Who knew he might want to take advantage of Eve to strengthen his position in his family. If that is the case, then our Eve would never be happy with him. Do you still want to throw Eve to the world where you would never be able to know if she was fine or not.

You are going to be the empress, so you should know better. Once she would marry in another empire, she had to cut all her ties from this empire and her family.

What if she would suffer there but never be able to contact us. Who would help her then. Tell me?" William asked in a cold voice as he stared at all three of them.

It was not like he believed in forcing his children or he did ot trust them. He was just too worried by this sudden decision. He had thought long and hard about it but he could not give his daughter to another empire. It would be no less than selling her for the welfare of the empire.

Eli took a deep sigh. She knew that consequences would be dire and that was why she had went to talk about it from Eve but Eve had told her that she was not going to take her decision back.

"Father, I know that you are worried about how she would survive in another empire but you will lose her forever if you keep forcing her to stay with you.

She would not be happy with this kind of sheltered life. And if you are worried about her so much, you can always make sure that the envoy that visits the neighboring empire each year would be us.

Then you and Leo can go and check up on her every year. I am sure we can invite them to national gatherings like foundation day and my marriage too. Then the emperor's birthday and we can create more occasions so that we could meet.

You can not keep us away from our part of struggles. You can not hide her forever.`` This time, even Leo turned to look at his father who was frowning. He did not understand why they could not see that he was trying too hard to keep them safe and protected.

"Eli, the world is not as beautiful as you see it. You have seen the harsh world and you know that Eli is a careless girl. She had never been part of the politics." he added when he heard Leo sighing and shaking his head.

"Father, if you are worried that she is naive, then we can teach her. It is not like she was going to marry in a day or two." William's eyes narrowed on Leo as disbelief filled him.

"Even you too? So, there is no one who agrees with me?"

"I do!"