Guidebook for the Dark Duke

At six o’clock the next morning, Tom, Evan’s servant, knocked on the door and woke him up. Tom had just graduated from the servant’s school the year before. He had been serving in the house of the previous priest. When the previous priest left, he stayed because he didn’t want to leave his hometown.

Tom has ordinary looks and does not look very smart, but he is a hardworking young man. He woke the sleepy Evan early, and helped him change into the priest’s robe, before whispering, “Reverend Bruce, Mrs. Haydn had already prepared breakfast, do you want to go downstairs to eat?”

Evan took the hot towel from Tom and wiped his face, “I’ll go downstairs to eat. By the way, Tom, go to the post office and order a few newspapers for me. One local newspaper, one times newspaper and one church newspaper.”

Tom handed over his toothbrush and toothpaste and asked respectfully, “There are two kinds of local newspapers, the Daily Mail and Daily News, which one would you prefer?”

Evan thought about it for a moment. Except for what he had read in the novel, he didn’t know anything about Delanlier, so it was better to be prepared.

” Both papers.”

” Yes, sir. ” Tom bowed and stepped out.

When Evan got downstairs, Mrs Haydn had already brought the breakfast to the table. Mrs Haydn was a grumpy middle-aged woman. She and Aiden, the gardener, were husband and wife, and Billy, the errand boy, was their youngest son. They used to be tenants under the duke’s name, but because of the flood, the family’s land was flooded, so they had to go out to look for work.

Mrs Haydn’s cooking skills were very good and Evan was very satisfied with the food. He also suppressed the idea he’d had of replacing the workers. It seems that, although Mrs Sanders has a strict personality, she does things very well and in a meticulous manner.

Evan took his Bible and walked along the gravel road towards the church. The priest’s residence was not far from the church. Evan walked for 5 minutes and arrived there. He saw Mrs Sanders from a distance, waiting at the door.

Evan stepped forward with a gentle smile on his face, “Mrs Sanders, I’m so sorry for being late.”

Mrs Sanders stiffly bent the corners of her lips, “No, Reverend Bruce, you got here just in time. In another quarter of an hour, the members of the church will arrive.”

When he heard this, Evan felt a little nervous as this was the first time that he’d be a full priest and not an assistant priest helping another priest.

Evan pursed his lips and stood quietly beside Mrs Sanders, waiting for the members of the church.

Sure enough, after a quarter of an hour, the members arrived one after the other. The showed great curiosity when looking at Evan.

Miss Blair, who lived by the pine forest, was the first to speak. Miss Blair was an old lady in her forties, she owned a single family house and a store, which made her quite wealthy.

She looked a little funny in a goose-yellow dress and a pink velvet hat.

“Reverend Bruce, are you from London?” She deliberately clamped her throat and made a little girl-like shrill voice.

Evan, on the other hand, continued to look gentle and polite, his demeanour unchanged, just like a true gentleman: “Yes, I previously served in a small church in the suburbs of London.”

His tone was warm and peaceful. Coupled with his natural good looks, the ladies around him became even more excited.

Major Mel, a person who had served on the battlefield and a well-known figure in Delanlier, was very curious about this priest that seemed too young to be one. He heard what he said and couldn’t help but interject, “Reverend Bruce, which church did you serve in? I worked in London before I retired, maybe I went to this church?”

Evan nodded lightly, “It’s just a small church. Major Mel might not know about it.”

He didn’t want to talk about his old story, because it was like a stranger’s life and he really had nothing to say about it.

Major Mel was a wise man so he stopped asking.

When everyone had almost all arrived, Evan walked up to the altar and started his sermon. He had already prepared the sermon so the preaching could be considered to be quite smooth and without accident. Evan though his face looked calm, Evan’s heart was not calm.

Duke Wilson did not come.

The faithful believer of God, as Mrs Sanders had praised him, didn’t show up at Evan’s first sermon when almost all the people in town had showed up.

But everyone looked as they should, no one asked questions nor whispered. This is a phenomenon that’s incomprehensible to a group of faithful Protestants. Evan is very aware of how influential religion is on the people of this era, and a peculiar existence like Duke Wilson made him realize that this world was not as simple as he’d imagined it to be.

After the sermon ended, Mrs Lawrence walked up to Evan. Mrs Lawrence was a very thin lady and not very beautiful. Her thin lips and high cheekbones made her look a bit mean. She also carried herself with indescribable restraint. She raised her chin with a hint of pride in her eyes.

“Reverend Bruce, please allow me to sincerely invite you to a welcome banquet that will be held for you at my home, Woodwich Cottage, at seven o’clock this evening. Please be there.”

She gently stroked the satchel in her hand. Evan could see that it was the newest and most popular style in London that year.

“I’m very honored to have been given this opportunity, I will definitely attend.” Evan said warmly, appearing to be modest but not too humble.

Mrs Lawrence nodded with satisfaction and left with Mr Lawrence, who looked a little tired.

After that, Evan dealt with a few ladies with lustful eyes, fortunately they were all traditional British ladies. Although they were eager to make a move on Evan, they could not be rude. Evan responded in the appropriate manner and they all left.

People in small towns are polite and reserved, quite good at reacting properly to strangers.

After Evan sent off the last member, he returned to the church again. Mrs Sanders was kneeling in front of the statue of Virgin Mary, praying.

Evan walked up to her slowly and looked at the merciful Virgin Mary in front of him, but there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.

“Have the worshippers gone?”, Mrs Sanders suddenly spoke.

Evan subconsciously changed his look to a gentle one and said warmly, “They have all left.” After speaking, the expression in his eyes changed and he said, “However, I didn’t see the duke today.”

Mrs Sanders ended her prayers with a chant of Hail Mary.

“Lord Duke usually doesn’t come to church, except for weekend services. You’ll find out later, Reverend Bruce.” Mrs Sanders stood up and with a cold light in her eyes, looked straight into Evan’s eyes.

Evan suddenly smiled, and the bright sunlight shone on him through the windows of the church, making him look like his whole body was glowing with holy light.

“I see, thank you for mentioning it.”

Mrs Sanders nodded stiffly, lifted her skirt and left.

Evan stayed in the church all day to deal with the account books left by the previous priest. Delanlier is a prosperous town, so the donations made to the church were quite abundant, especially from Duke Wilson who, like Mrs Sanders described, was very generous.

Because of the many donations, dealing with the account books was complicated. All morning, Evan had been checking the account ledgers with the deacon who was in charge of the finances of the church. It was only in the afternoon that Evan finished sorting out his work. It was already six o’clock by then and it was almost time for Mrs Lawrence’s banquet.

Evan looked at his pocket watch, looked at the deacon and said, “Sorry, it’s getting late. Let’s end here today.”

All the officials sighed with relief, said their goodbyes to Evan one by one and left the church.

Evan was the last to leave the church. He arranged and put away the account ledgers properly, checked to see if there were still people in the church and left the church.

Evan returned to the parsonage, where Tom was waiting at the door.

” Reverend Bruce, Mrs Lawrence called an hour ago.”

Evan stopped and turned to look at Tom, “What did she say?”

Tom said, “Mrs Lawrence said that you must be in formal wear for the dinner, that the duke would likely be there.”

Evan’s whole body became tense and he looked at Tom with surprise. It took a while for him to find his voice. “The duke will be there?” Evan’s voice was a little hoarse.

Tom looked at Evan strangely and nodded, “Yes, the duke does not often appear at such occasions but Mr Lawrence is a member of the town council and has a good relationship with the Duke, so….”

Evan barely heard what Tom said, he was immersed in the joy of seeing the duke soon.

This duke, who is almost omnipotent in the book, has a very extreme personality and warped views, but even so, he is the real protagonist in the book. Whether it is the white lotus-like heroine or other cannon fodder passersby, no one could trump his brilliance.

Evan was excited when he read the book, but when he actually entered the book, he panicked. Because this world is not a very reasonable world, and all the ideas of justice do not make sense. The only reliable things were power and money.

There was a smile in Evan’s eyes. In this world, the only way to gain power is to get close to the duke. The duke whose personality was a bit lacking but was emotionally blank.