Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

The night was heavy. Evan kept hugging Leo as if trying to assure her of her presence.

Every moment, hissing of leaves or rustling of curtains forced him to hold his sword and sat up on the bed.

"Everything would be fine. You do not need to worry about it." she said as  she rubbed his back.

He nodded but his eyes were still looking restless.

As if he was waiting for his other to come and tell him more about that cousin of his.

"Evan what if.." he paused as if he did not know how to explain.

"Then you will win again. You have thrown the man out once, you can do it again." she assured him when he sighed as if she was not understanding.

His healing properties were threatening. Even when Leo was sure at his attacks, the man would never die. Then how could he be defeated.

"You must be tired. Why don't you sleep again?" she asked as she pulled him to her laps and ran a hand in his hair.

He held her tightly and closed his eyes. Yet the sounds around them were haunting him.

"I will ask my father and we will leave for the place in the morning. We will be safe if we change the place and there is more safety there." she said in an assuring voice and then took a deep breath.

"And I have heard about the wizards too. we will go to them and ask for help. I am sure a few of them have replies to your question." he shook his head at her and sighed.

The night was long and hard and the first thing Evan did in the morning was to pack their things and ask for a carriage.

They left the house in a hurry while the villagers kept staring at them while pointing at them as if they were still shocked by the look of Leo of last night.

But since he was a knight, the rumors died down easily.

Hannah and Ethan were waiting for them at the entrance. Though confused at the sudden change of mind, they welcomed both of them with open arms and hearts.

Renne was given her personal room but Leo refused.

"My princess would stay with me all the time. I am taking a break from my post so that I can take care of my daughter." he announced, shocking everyone again.

He never took a break from his job even when Evan was pregnant and they were suffering in that small house without any maids or servants.

But thinking that he was being too possessive of his daughter, no one paid it much attention. But Even knew.. She could see that the fear had filled his heart.

He often spent days staring at the sky or out at the door as if he was waiting for something to happen. And then looked relieved that it did not happen.

She sighed as she kept writing about it in her diary and letter for her daughter.

Only she could help her father now. Even when Evan tried to assure him, he did not look convinced but when he spent time with his daughter, he looked like he was old Leo again.

She smiled when she saw both of them playing with the small rattle in his hands.

She had learned to follow him with her eyes and giggle when he came closer. This was enough to keep him smiling all day.

Her eyes only had her father. Even when she went and held Renee, she kept looking at her father as if she wanted him to pick her up.

He would come smiling and hug her only then did she giggle and laugh.

The days were going peacefully.

"Shall we go and ask Ian to join the job again? Since he was already engaged to Olivia, is it time for him to work again?" she asked Leo who nodded his head.

The more the merrier, he did not want to leave Even or Renee alone even for a second. He was hardly sleeping these days so if the men he could trust were around them, he would be more at ease.

"And how about I ask Reynold to take care of Renee now. She would need a knight now." Leo nodded again, though he wanted to be the knight of his princess. He knew that things are going to be messier now.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

"Andrew told me that they had found his majesty. He was going to be taken to the court tomorrow. I need to be there and your presence may also be needed." he said with a solemn voice when she nodded.

"At last, this long chapter will end. Once everything is done, I want to go on a vacation to a palace where no one would know us so that we could enjoy ourselves." she asked as she hugged him from behind when he smiled and nodded.

"Then I would start looking for places. It would be better if we went to our summer palace or northern place if you want to see ice." she rubbed her face on his back when he laughed and hugged her back

It had been days since he smiled this peacefully. She felt much better looking at him.

"Then I will ask Hannah to take care of Renee as a lesson. It is already her third month. So she would need to work as a mother herself." Leo's eyes widened when she giggled.

"Oh my, she is running in the whole house with that belly. Do not tell me that you did not know." she asked with a chuckle when he shook his head with an innocent look on his face and she giggled more.

"What about their marriage then?" he asked with a bit of embarrassment on his face when she chuckled.

"Ethan had already signed the papers and took the vows in the church. He wanted the case to end before they could go for a grand wedding. Maybe their son is going to attend their wedding."