Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

She took a breath of relief when she scanned the whole body of Renee and did not find a single wound or scratch.

She kissed her forehead and cheeks again and again as if she was trying to assure herself that everything was fine.

Then she stared at Leo who was silent all this time. His eyes were looking listless.

"Oh my, what in the world happened." She hugged him tightly to assure him that she was here for him but his body was not responding as if his soul was not there anymore.

It worried her and she looked around for help.

Peter and the new girl were staring at them with widened eyes and agape mouths while Carl was blinking as if he was trying to make sure that he was not having delusions.

"Carl, will you hold Renee for me and walk me home?" she asked in a calm voice as if she could not see the blood dripping from his face.

Carl stared at Leo for a few more seconds before tuning to Evan and nodding his head.

He came forward and took the baby from the hands of Evan and held it tightly as if he was trying to ensure her safety.

"Peter, I know that I have troubled you today and left midway when I promised that I would stay till the end. Please forgive me for my rudeness. I will.. See you later.'' Her voice was so calm like the spring water that Peter nodded absentmindedly.

She gave a last smile to the young girl before holding her husband and walking away.

She had thought that he would make a noise or finally come back to his senses when they would start to walk but he did not. He was walking like a soulless person until they reached the home.

In the whole path, she was afraid that they would be attacked again and she would not be able to defend and save all four of them. She was worried that even Carl would be dragged in it, but to her relief nothing like that happened.

She took a breath of relief as she opened the ajar door and turned towards Carl,

"Thank you, I am glad that I have a friend like you." she bent a bit as she took Renee from his hands and pecked him on his cheeks when he nodded.

He gave another look to Leo who was still looking lost and looked at Evan with worry, Leo is someone he looked up to.

"If you need any kind of help, just call me. I will be around." her face softened and she smiled as she nodded her head when Carl left.

He knew that they needed time for themselves.

Evan sighed and closed the door, she double checked that it was locked well before turning in and placing Renee on the small cot near the sofa.

She walked toward Leo and hugged him again. She kissed his cheeks, his eyes, any and every part where she could despite the blood covering it which had dried now.

"I am proud that you faced so much alone and kept our daughter safe. You are the best husband and father, Leo. Renee is proud of you too." she assured him a few times when his eyes finally stirred.

She kept hugging him and kissing him when he finally moved his hands and hugged her back.

"I know. I know it must have been difficult for you. I will ask Andrw to look into the matter and find his father as soon as possible and I will not leave the house again. We are going to face it together. You did good work, Leo." she kept repeating to assure him.

She didn't know what happened that shocked Leo when he was killing men since he was a child.

She could not fathom what broke him so much.

"It was not George!" he whispered in her ears when she looked back into his eyes with confusion.

"Was it not his majesty? Then who would try to kill us and why?" she searched in her memory but they never had made any enemies.

They have been a kind couple and everyone adores Leo.

"It is.. The man who had kept my real mother captive."

​ "......." her eyes widened with shock when he nodded again confirming that she was not hallucinating.

"And he was not a human. He had magical powers to heal himself and even create fire to burn others. I do not know what other powers he had but the man is dangerous to Evan and he knew about Renee. It would be better that you leave the empire or at least leave me and hide farther away with me." he said in an urgent voice.

His voice was breaking and stuttering while his body was trembling. Evan had never seen Leo behaving this way.

It felt like he was still suffering from the trauma.

"I will arrange for money and I will arrange a boat for you. It would be better that you go and meet Evelyn and live with her for some time and I will ask Reynold to escort both of you and work as your guard. Everything would be fine. You do not need to worry at all." he kept repeating his words that Evan was not sure if he was saying those words to her or to himself.

He had already turned and arranged things in a bag when she sighed.

It would be a lie if she would say that she was not afraid but…

"I am not going anywhere."

Her words paused his actions and he frowned at her when she sighed.

"If you are not able to keep us safe, then nothing in this world could keep us safe. You are the strongest knight of the empire and no one will be so passionate to sacrifice himself to keep us safe than you. So, did it make any sense to give us to someone else?"