Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

Forgetting her status and position, she held onto the man who was passing a bit of warmth to her and leaned on his shoulders as she poured her every grievance out through tears and closed her eyes.

Arden froze and his whole body turned stiff when he felt her soft head leaning on his chest. His gaze moved down after a few seconds when he saw only a head full of hair was leaning on to him while her soft hands were clutching to his shirt so tightly as if she was afraid that even he would vanish if she did not hold him tightly,

He knew that the girl was not in her senses or she would have never hugged just the son of a count who was below her rank.

  For her, ranks were everything, so he had seen her all her life working hard and trying to make a name for herself, he knew that she had done all that only to get the attention of his master.

Except him, everyone else was like air in her eyes. That was why she had never noticed his presence.

But he did not dare to hold her waist or touch her recklessly. They were still in the public area and he could not bear that anyone would point at her due to him.

"My lady, get a hold of yourself. Shall I escort you to your palace?" he asked in a soft tone after a few minutes when her sobs slowed down but his words only increased the pain in her heart.

But she finally realised that she was holding on to an aide, so she let him go immediately and created a distance between them by standing up abruptly.

But due to sitting in an odd position for so long, her legs had gone numb, so when she tried to stand up, she stumbled and was about to fall on the floor with her face down, a warm pair of hands holding her waist.

She froze and it took her a few seconds to react again when she saw that his face was staring at her face with concern.

"You do not seem to be okay, my lady! Please allow me to escort you to your palace!" the man asked again with a trace of worry on his face as he helped her in standing properly.

And only when he was sure that she would not fall again did he let her go.

She looked at him with an embarrassed face. Not ever in her life had she shown her ugliness in the public. She had always been an example of perfectness for everyone. 

How did she feel so much to disgrace herself in the presence of an aide, that aslo Leo's aide!

'Wait! He was Leo's personal aide.. The man that was closest to him!' her eyes that had turned dim shone as the new plan knocked in her mind.

Continuing the pitiful look in her eyes, she looked at him with an embarrassed face,

"If only that would not create any trouble for you!" her voice was barely above a whisper and her whole face had turned red, yet it was a surprise for Arden that she agreed.

'She must have been heartbroken badly' was all she thought as he was sure that she would not have said yes otherwise!

"Oh, not at all, my lady. What should I do? Shall I take my carriage or yours?" he asked in a gentle voice that a tinge of guilt filled her heart as she felt his concern and warmth. 

But when she remembered how both Evan and Leo had raised a hand on her and how they had degraded her, the guilt left as fast as it had come and her eyes filled with determination to take revenge against him.

"Then, I must trouble you. My carriage would be fine." she replied as she rubbed his palm that was still holding her hands to make sure that she would not lose her balance.

His eyes widened when he felt her touch but did not think much of it as he knew that it was a big shock of her life that Leo had abandoned her.

She had always been in delusion that the man would notice her if she continued to move closer to him.

He only passed her a smile to give her more strength but let her hands go, afraid that they would be misunderstood or that she would feel that he was trying to take advantage of her.

"Then, shall we leave, my lady?" he asked as he waved his hand and a knight standing at a distance with a blank face came running towards them.

"Inform master, that i have some urgent work and i would not come back before sunset!" the knight nodded and left them alone to stand at his position again when Arden turned to look at Olivia.

The girl nodded with a red face as she tucked her strands behind her ears and left with the man with a new agenda in her life.

On the other side, Leo pulled Evan with hasty steps and she was half running, half hopping to match his steps. 

If it had been any other time, she would have glared at the man and jerked her hand back but when she looked at his dark face and cold eyes, the words died down in her throat and she did not dare to say anything.

She did not understand why he acted so brutally when she was the one who was getting targeted. For once, even she had felt that he would really throw Olivia out of the buckling.

Leo only let her hands go when they entered his office. She staggered a bit with the force he had used in letting go of her hands but before she could steady herself,

He held her hand again and turned her as she leaned on the wall and then asked her in a cold voice.

"What were you trying to do the whole day? Huh? Do you think I am patient enough to deal with your squabble?"