Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

Martin looked at the corridor where aunt Martha left with Leo and for some reason his heart beat increased. He looked at Evan with hesitating eyes. 

He did not want to ask her any question that offended her but at the same time, he felt that he would not be able to let go of it if he would not do so.

"Carl, will you bring a glass of water for me from the kitchen?" He turned towards his brother and passed him the empty glass that was laid in front of him.

Since Carl was already done with the dinner. He nodded and stood up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen without thinking much about it.

Evan, who was still busy enjoying the fruit rolls, had her head lowered and took a small bite of her dessert, savoring its taste on her tongue for a long time. In the palace they all eat with so much manners and etiquettes that she has very little time for enjoying her meals even when they have an assortment of dishes.

"Evangi!" Listening to her name, the girl raised her head and looked at the worried Martin with confusion. When she was eating her meal in silence, did something happen again?

"Are you sure you are fine? You fell with a thud sound!" her face softened when she realized that he was worried for her.

Flashing all her teeth with a smile, she shook her head.

"No! I am not hurt at all, not even a scratch. So do not fret over it!" she assured him but he still did not look relaxed.

Her brows furrowed when she looked at his worried face but before she could ask anything, he continued, 

"What kind of a man did hurt his wife. I could not believe that it was just an incident. He had a dark face and he was looking at you with a smirk on his face when you fell!" This was the first time Leo reacted that way even though she was not sure what had happened to him.

But when he had even behaved predictably! He had always been a woman on her menopause, moody and cranky! 

But to think that he would hurt her, she did not think so! He may get irritated by her antics, but he has always protected her.

With that thoughts in her mind, she shook her head confidently, 

"He may seem a bit cold and moody. But he is a nice man and he would never hurt me!" she assured but it only made him more uncertain!

"Then are you happy as his wife?" it took him all his strength to ask that as his eyes turned to look at the other side. He did not dare to see in her eyes.

What if they were filled with joy and love or blissful smiles? Though he would be happy for her, he did not have the courage to look at it directly. For his heart would broke,

He would have married her a long ago when her mother had proposed it in the past, but his mother did not agree for the marriage, telling him that he deserved a better girl than Evan, who looks like a lost soul.

But he had thought that with time when his mother would notice how stubborn he was for getting married to Evan, she would give up and accept his decisions. He had never thought that till the time would come, Evan would already get married to someone else. That also a man that was far better than him!

He was feeling loss, anger, resentment and much more but he did not know how to explain it to her. And most importantly did she not feel a thing? After all, she had never opposed when they were addressed as a couple in the past or when her mother had proposed their marriage.

Evan blinked when she heard his sudden question, she couldn't help but frown when the words sunk in her mind. And then she remembered that from the time they have met, she had not cleared her relationship with Leo and aunt Martha had called them a couple, 

She chuckled when she realized that Martin was having a misunderstanding,

"Martin, Leo and I are not married. And we are not going to get married in the future either. 

I am just acting so that he would get rid of some girls that were trying to court him and father had asked for a promise from his father that we both get married.

But.. Leo! He did not see me as his wife and did not want to marry me!" 

She did not know why but she felt that her mouth felt bitter when she spoke the last line even when she was only having sweets all this time! 

Could it be that the fruits she had eaten just now were sour!? 

She was confused at her emotion but the man who was stealing the gaze away from her snapped his head towards her direction with a bright smile on her face,

"What did you say? Did it mean that you both have not married!?" he asked again with his heart beating faster and his face filled with strange happiness.

As if he had lost everything but found it back in the next second. He wanted to dance with joy by taking her hands in his hands.

Though she felt something was amiss in his reaction, she still nodded her head truthfully and he laughed heartily.

"Oh Evangi! You have given me a fright there! So, you are only at his palace for a short while?" he confirmed again and she nodded like before, she had to look for a place but that would not be a problem with the reward he was offering her, 

"Then... does it mean that you will be back in the town after a while? That is great. I will buy your house back so that you can live here freely!"