Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

Once William was assured that they had gone, he sighed as he felt bad for them but instead of taking his horse towards the town center as he had told them, he walked towards the woods on the other side.

"Clop clop!" 

The tapping sound of the hives echoed in the dark woods. Though the sky was clear, the woods were so dense that the rays of the sun hardly passed by.

Though it would feel like he was riding the horse randomly for fun, but after riding from the same place a few times, he changed his way and crossed the deeper woods only to stand in front of a dark oak tree. 

But he did not climb off his horse as if he was only looking at the scenery for a moment.

"You dodged the knight well, your highness! I would not have been able to follow you this way!" the old man with a big cloak over his head came out of the dark and chuckled.

His head was still well hidden and so was his whole body, yet William could recognise the voice even in his dreams!

"Haven't I asked you to not come back looking for us ever! Why are you here then?" Without even wasting a second, William took out the sword from his hilt and pressed it on the chin of the old man with a bit of pressure that a drop of blood came out instantly.

William's eyes had long turned cold and dark. He would not think twice before killing the man if he did not get a satisfying answer from him.

The aura was overbearing and strong that even the trained knights would have fallen on their knees facing death in front of them, but the man just chuckled as if he had heard a great joke!

"If i would have been at your place, i would not have done so!" He tried to hold the sharp edge of the sword and deviate from his neck but the force that was holding the sword only increased with his action as if the man was challenging him.

If you have the ability, try to move it again.

"And why would that be? You have broken the promise and I have every right to get rid of you now!" he had told the man previous time that he would kill him if he ever dared to show his face again. Did he take his words as a joke?

Or did he think he would have sympathy for a man like him who did not think twice before selling his own daughter!

"Oh my! When have I broken my promise?! I think you have misunderstood your grace! You have asked me not to show my face to you again!

Haven't I brought this cloak for that purpose only!" The man even chuckled in the end as if he had done a great deed but it only snapped all the nerves of duke WIlliam.

His face darkened so much that even trees shivered with fear.

"Are you trying to make fun of me now? Huh? I think you do not love your life anymore!" With that the man jumped from the horse and took the sword an inch back only to stab him with it this time.

"If you would do that then all your hard work would go in vain as your family would know the truth and so as that innocent girl who still thinks that you are a kind and merciful man who was favoring her despite her lower birth!" the words did wonder as the hands of the duke William froze in the mid air.

He was only worried about one thing.. That was being hated by his own family and so was that girl. 

Her naive eyes already haunt him even in his dreams. He could not bear to let that nightmare turn into reality.

The old man observed the ashen face and frozen body of the man and a cold and evil smirk formed on his face.

"I know that you were smart enough, your grace! That is why I have always marveled over you! 

I am sure I will be someone like you one day. But for that the money you gave me was not enough!" The man took a deep lamenting breath and shook his head and duke WIllaim finally came back to his senses.

"So you need more money. That was it? I will send the gold to the previous address. You should not come to my office due to that!" Duke William gritted his teeth as it took all his rationality to take the sword back.

He wanted to kill him so badly. But he did not want his kids to hate him when they would know the truth. But then.. What if they would never know! He was torn between his thoughts when he raised his eyes and stared at the man who was chuckling again.

"I did not need any more money. In fact, I have enough of it. But I am still living the life of a refugee!

I can not show my face in public or buy land. The palace I have always dreamt of buying was still a distant dream too. 

That was not how I had expected my life to turn when I signed the deal with you, your grace. If it continued, I am afraid that I would not be able to keep my side of the bargain.

I am feeling like a sewer rat even after having enough money to last for generations! I am afraid that the truth would spill out of my mouth if I continued to live this kind of miserable life.

So, I want to change the reward, I want to be a noble to hide the truth!"

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