Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"You are again late, how many times have I told you that I need you to come here early in the morning so that we could complete all the work of the day?" The man did not even turn to look at the person who entered when the door creaked open as he started to complain. 

His hands were still checking the grains as he had a needle and thread in his hands which he used in packing all those bags once he was satisfied with the quality of grains.

Wiping his sweat, he waved his hands, "come here now! Why are you still standing there? Come and count the bags and check their weight. We have to go to market early in the morning.'' His voice was filled with annoyance as the needle pierced his skin when he was trying to sew the sack so that the grains would not fall from the bag.

"Ouch." he winced as he let go of the needle for a second and then placed his finger in the mouth to stop the finger from bleeding further.

But his expressions turned grim when he still did not see his brother walking towards him.

"Hey, Carl, do not tell me that you are not in a mood to work again!" he complained as he finally turned his head to glare at his young brother who only irked him these days.

But to his astonishment, the boy was not there but a man with daunting eyes. He was wearing expensive clothes that he had never seen in this town. He was looking regal and elegant but His aura was so strong and he felt intimidated just by looking at him.

It took him a few seconds to come back to his senses, as he stood up abruptly, losing her balance a bit in the process and walked towards the door.

Dusting his hands, he tried his best to stay calm as he asked in a polite but strong voice, "yes, how may i help you?" He felt better when the sound came stronger than he had thought but the strange man did not reply.

He tilted his head as he stared at him for a second and then scanned the number of sacks in the room. Though scared, he did not like the way the strange man was behaving!

'Could it be that thieves these days had that kind of clothing? Only this was the conclusion he could think of and was about to threat the man that he would call the knights that patrol in this area when finally the man parted his pale and thin lips,

"How many crops do you have here in total?" His words were precise and did not clear his intention but confused the man further.

'Did he want to buy them or rob him by taking all that forcefully.' indignantly he looked at the man and glared when he heard the sound of laughing from the other side.

Soon, his brother entered in the room followed by a girl whom he had not seen in ages but she was looking completely different so for a second he thought that the girl was a noble.

Her complexion had improved a lot and her clothes were expensive. She was looking like those rich nobles that he had seen a few times in the city market.

"Evangeline, is that you?" His expressions softened when the girl who was busy chatting and laughing raised her head and passed a gentle smile to him.

"Yes, Martin. Who else did you take me as?" she chuckled at the end of her words and took soft steps towards the man. 

The boy that had come with her, followed her with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, are you surprised too brother? When I saw her standing with Aunt, I thought she was a noble.

Look how pretty she is looking now?" the boy beamed as he looked at Evan once again with pride as if he was the one who had turned into a noble not her.

"Yes, she is looking very beautiful." the man nodded as he agreed to his brother while he was not even able to take his gaze away from the girl who smiled with rosy cheeks. 

Being called beautiful by the nobles or others did not affect her much. But being complemented by the ones she had grown up with suddenly made her feel so conscious of herself that she did not know how to react or reply.

"You both are just exaggerating so that you can tease me. I am still your little Evangeline!" replied the girl as she puffed up her cheeks. It was the first time that Leo had seen her behaving so coyly but he was not at all happy with it.

Because not even once she had turned to look at him or included him in their conversation.

All three of them forgot about the presence of a man whose face was turning darker every passing second and his whole body started working as an air conditioner when he saw the rosy cheeks of the girl due to the compliment received by another man!

"No! I swear, you are looking beautiful Evangeline. Not that you were not beautiful before, you have been a gorgeous scene forever. But today you are looking like lady of noble families that pass in the carriage a few times from our town!" replied the man as his hands moved instinctively to his neck and he pinched it to show how serious he was and the girl only smiled further, feeling at a loss of what to say anymore!

"Well, thank you Martin. You are looking handsome like always too. And I can see that you are working so diligently!" said the woman who did not even compliment him when he had won a fight with Raymond or had shown him the estate by staying awake all night. What a biased behavior!

[check chapter number 211 again]