Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"After all, which nobles did not have some bees around them?" The arrogance on her face reminded many of the previous duchess whose persona was so strong that no one had ever dared to mock her.

She was looking at Amber, the daughter of the baron as if she was much lower than her, something to be disgusted upon.

Those who were waiting for her to make a joke of her lowered their heads but they were not the only ones.

The most humiliated person was Amber. She held her dress tightly in her hands when her whole face stung. Though Hannah was still standing far away, she felt like she was slapped hard on her face.

She felt humiliated. Just as she was about to think of another word, Ethan came out of the washroom. His hair was a bit wet and his face was a bit red due to the hot water she had used in taking the bath.

When he was talking to the girl, the girl had been forced to prepare a tea and he did not want to insult her so he let her make it while waiting for her to share the information but just when she was about to serve the tea, the cup slipped and all the tea fell on his shirt.

It was so hot that he winced. She panicked and started crying like fools though she was the one at fault.

He could not bear it anymore and asked her to leave that instant while he went to take a bath while ringing the bell so that a maid would come and clean the mess.

He had taken a bit more time since he had heard the knock on the door and he was sure that the maid had come into the room already.

But he was not expecting to see Amber still standing there when he would come out. Not only her, but even Hannah!

What was she doing here? Should she not be in her room and waiting for Evan to come and bring her into the party hall.

His brows furrowed and he raised a bro as if asking, "why is everyone collected in his room."

The smell of fresh perfume and soap created doubt in the mind of everyone? Why did he need to take a bath at this hour when his engagement ceremony was about to begin every second?

Did he want to erase the scent of another woman before hugging his fiance? Everyone started to speculate the scene when the eyes of Hannah hardened.

Her nails dug deeper into her skin. Though her facial expressions did not change, she looked like her heart was raging in fire.

The man she was leaving everything for was spending his time with another woman just before their engagement.

"I apologize for still being here when you have asked me to leave before the maids would come into the room." it was Amber who broke the silence as she bowed her head with a sincere look on her face.

"It is fine! You may go now." said Ethan with a nod. He had so many things to take care of.

He did not care about the presence of the girl at all.

Once she nodded and walked back in the crowd, his head turned to look at Hannah.

"You should not be here too. Do you not know that the bride would wait in her room until the family member came to bring her. Showing your face before the ceremony is a bad omen. Hmm?" though his voice was still indifferent, his face had softened up.

Everyone could feel the difference in his action but it only brought more speculation. Could it be that he was so cold to Amber because he did not want the truth of their relationship to come out? That was why he was angry.

And he was softer to Hannah to appease her so that the girl did not doubt him.

Everyone looked at each other. They were not sure about Ethan from the start. Though he was the real son of the duke, his upbringing was of a commoner. How could he be able to hold the prestige of such a grand and old family.

But no one dared to speak a word. Hannah said nothing too. She nodded her head.

"I heard that the program still hasn't started and the family is not here yet, so I was just worried." she said after a pause.

She didn't ask about what happened in the room earlier or why there was a woman in his room. Though she had said that she did not care about his flings, it was a lie.

She had seen her mother suffering all her life and she did not want to have that kind of life.

She was going to leave him if there was someone else in his life. She did not believe in sharing her man.

But for now, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. She was going to wait for him until he told her the truth by himself.

"Oh!" He looked at the crowd and scanned the whole area before calling Theo.

"Go and send more knights to the town to check why they are not here yet!" he ordered but then paused and looked at Hannah as if asking for her permission.

"Or since you are already here, shall we change the ritual a bit? Since the family did not come to bring the bride, would the bride like to go and bring her family back?" he asked in a sweet voice that warmed her heart and thawed the frost freezing her heart,

"I know that it might delay the ceremony but would the ceremony even matter without our family?" our! Did he even know what that word meant for her? All this life she only wanted her family to love and cherish her but her mother was too busy waiting for her and her father…

She shook her head to keep those thoughts at bay and then looked back at him and nodded.

"Yes, I want my family to be here too."