Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"You have no proof against them. So, even if I speak, I am not sure if it would work!" said Hannah with a dim look in her eyes. She had neve thought that she would say it but she was regretting her decision.

"I do not care about that!" said the man with a cold look on his face as he did not spare her a single glance, "but if you want to repent for your acts, then you have to accept your wrong doings and speak against his majesty who has paid you for all that."  She felt dejected when his words lacked warmth.

For months she was locked in that dark room with only food sent to her. It was her lucky day when the food was edible but most of the time it was full of spices mixed with things that made her nauseating.

But she was still standing on her strong will but it crumbled when she came to know that he was looking for a bride.

She shouted and cried for hours and stopped eating or accepting any words until he came to meet her.

But then instead of asking if she was fine, he only asked if she was ready to tell the truth now.

"They will kill me." she whispered with surety when he just scoffed.

"You should have thought that when you tried to kill a pregnant woman. Have you ever thought she had a small life in her?" he asked with such a cold look that she felt her heart clenched.

She felt her body was getting numb with the pain.

"So, you do not care about me anymore? Do you not love me anymore, Ethan?" she asked on the verge of tears when he finally turned to look at her but instead of smiling or showing affection to her, his eyes squinted.

There was no warmth in them. It looked like they were full of hatred and coldness with no emotions.

"You have broken the trust and turned that love into numbness by yourself, Hannah. If you want the love and emotions back, you have to prove that you are worthy enough this time.

Because of you, I have lost my family. I have lost their love and trust and you even tried to kill them!" she flinched at his cold voice, "tell me, if you would have been at my place, would you have loved that kind of person."

She looked away when he started deep into her eyes. No! The answer was no but she could never accept that.

"If you want this empire, then tell the truth in front of everyone and help me in proving that his majesty was behind all this and he was still trying to kill Evangeline.

I swear on my name that I will give you everything and leave to live with my family." her eyes trembled and she raised her head to look at him.

The sincerity and graveness on his face was telling her that he was serious about it.

"The knights would protect you with their life so no one would be able to attack you. And you live your whole life in luxury. That is what you wanted from the start,  isn't it?" he asked in a mocking tone.

His each word was like a cold splash of water on her face. She felt thoroughly embarrassed and hurt but there were more to it.. She felt a strange emotion bubbling in her heart.

She felt like she could not breathe at all due to the suffocation.

"Are you still not ready?" he tilted his head and finally looked at her. His eyes were getting so cold that it could freeze the whole room.

Suddenly she missed the young Ethan she had met in the palace of the fallen princess. The time they have spent their leisure free and the care he had in his eyes for her.

She missed that warmth the most. If it would have been Hannah of that past, she would have already accepted his offer and taken everything for herself.

But she did not realize when her goals and dreams had changed. When she started to see future with him.

When the thought crossed her mind, her eyes widened but her vision became clear. So that was the reason she was crying when she came to know that he was getting married to someone else.

Such a fool she was! She never cared for his love when he gave it to her wholeheartedly without asking anything in return.

And now that she had lost it, she was craving it.

She chuckled at her luck and her fate when his eyes turned colder.

"Are you mocking me now?" he asked in a dangerous voice, his eyes turned darker and danger was lurking in them when she shook her head.

"No! I am laughing because I finally know what I want from you." her words only bring another snicker on his face as he was sure it would be more.

The woman was greedy beyond redemption.

"I am giving you this place and all the knights working here, yet you want more?" he mocked her with a scoff, but then nodded his head.

"Very well, my family is priceless, so I am ready to give you anything you want. Tell me what is your price?" She took a deep breath as she could see hatred in those soft eyes that were deeper than the ocean.

She had always felt that she would drown in them if she continued to look into them for long.

"I do not want the palace or the knights. And before you can ask, no! I do not want treasure or rare gems too." he frowned when she continued slowly, "in exchange for speaking the truth and putting my life in danger, I want you to marry me. And I do not care if you are the duke or not. You can return everything to Leo and we can start another life somewhere far away."