Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

As Andrew finished speaking and looked at the man with challenging eyes, Max sucked up a deep breath.

His blood turned cold. The worst feeling one could have was to not be able to protect the person they love more than their life.

He was ready to sacrifice himself for her but he knew that was not enough.

He stared at Adele with his deep and dark eyes as if thinking how to protect the girl, if only she would have agreed when he had asked her that they would run away from there.

The girl who was silent all this time as if analyzing her situation pushed the man who was trying to cover her as if she was weak all this time.

"What do you want?" Though she was asking, she already knew what he wanted and so did Andrew.

A grin formed on his face as he finally sat straight and looked at her with a knowing smile.

"See, you wasted both of our time so much. If you would have replied to my questions before, I would have stayed blind eyes to your actions and not dragged your lover here.

Now tell me, what leverage do you have against my father?

When he was so happy to trample your nation under his feet, why did he accept you as the future empress of our empire?" A treacherous ray of light flickered in his eyes, and the expression on his handsome face appeared to be very cold.

He swept a chilly glance at her but she was not a girl who would tremble and hide herself.

She looked at him with the same intensity as she walked and sat in front of him with one leg crossing over the other.

"I must say I have taken you as a fool. That is why I have kept my guards down. You are not as dumb as your father think you are!" everyone was taken aback by her sudden attitude,

They all have thought that she would plead and kneel in front of Andrew to save her life but she was behaving completely different from what they have imagined.

She was looking confident and arrogant even when she was about to die! Could it be that the shock hit her brain so hard that she had lost her senses and rationality and that was why she was behaving crazily.

The knights could not bear the insult of their prince anymore. They came forward to push her off from the seat but Max stood between them.

His cold eyes and bulky figure was enough to stop them in their tracks. He tilted his head and looked at them with a dangerous look on his face as if he was challenging them to take a step forward without getting killed.

"It is fine!" Andrew raised his hand and stopped his knights from acting rashly.

He knew Max was stronger than all of them and if not all, he would be able to kill half a dozen knights before getting caught again.

"You want the secret I am holding. But then.. Then what? What if you killed both of us after knowing the secret?

Wouldn't it be better to die without telling you then you would not be able to save your beloved.

Wouldn't it be better to see my killer suffering. Hmm?

I do not have any kindness in me that I would feel bad for you or your lover. You know that right?" she asked in a casual tone as if she was not talking about death or anything serious but weather or food.

"If you were calling us for such a long meeting, you should have ordered a few snacks at least!" she added as she looked around. There was not even water available in the room.

A look of disdain passed her eyes as she leaned leisurely on the plush chair.

Everyone around her was shocked and stared at her as if she had gone crazy. She knew that her life was at stake but if Andrew wanted to kill her, he would have done that already.

The way he had brought Max here calmly, it showed that he knew about his presence for a long time but did not take action because it  was not beneficial for him.

He had only turned this berserk because his lover was called for trial. And this was her last chance.

If she would cower and accept defeat then he would gain the upper hands. If she wanted to save herself and this bulky fool, she had to lay her cards well.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have already killed both of you. You already know that it was not my intention.

I promise on the name of my honor that i will send you to a safe place if the secret would be worth enough."  his hands touched his chest as he took the oath seriously that even knights stood straighter than before.

But the girl only chuckled as her head tilted while her eyes turned colder.

"The tch! Do you think I would trust the oath of the man who is the future emperor?

The empire who had ruined our happy lands? We have never hurt your empire or your lands nor were we a threat to you.

Yet! You decided to attack us? Like barbarians, you killed both women and children that were not even part of the war.

You killed my family, my relatives and everyone that was closer to me,

Do you think I am vicious enough to kill you? Wouldn't it only be right if I take the revenge of my family and my land as the last survivor of my land?

Do you think I would be able to survive when I have the burden of so many deaths that you have taken?

You and your whole family deserved to die just like ours. And now you are asking me to trust you and give you my last weapon!

Think again, Andrew, you have to give me a better deal!"