Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Where did the damn woman go?" Although the room was dark and there was no window to see out, Edward was sure that it was already late at night and he could be called for dinner anytime soon.

If he would not have poison to give it to Leo, he would not be able to accuse Evan or William who want to get rid of that brat.

And then he would be the one to be killed in the middle of the night.

If he wanted to save himself, he had to create a sensation into the palace to distract everyone.

It would be fine even if William would be killed since everyone would go to take care of him then and he could blame Leo who was scared that he would lose his wealth and position therefore wanted to kill the duke.

No matter who will die, he will be able to survive and turn the events in his favor.

Just as he was going berserk and was about to pull all his hair, the door of the room opened and a young girl entered in with a pale face.

"If you ate here to serve me food, then go away. I did not want to eat anything!" he yelled in a loud voice as he landed on the bed strongly.

Though he was dying of hunger, he would not take the risk of being served anything by the family who wanted to kill him.

"I.. I am sent by Jenna. She had said that if she would return back on time when she goes to deliver the letters, I will come here and give this bottle to you!" The girl hesitated a lot as sweat started to form on her face while the eyes of the old man sparkled.

He walked forward and snatched the bottle which she had hardly taken out from the bag.

"Yes, give it to me." he looked at the bottle as if he was looking at magic. He was looking at his successful future.

He laughed like a mad man that even attracted the attention of the knights who exchanged their glances and then killed the girl out,

"What is happening there? Why is there so much noise? And you, what are you doing in there? Who had allowed you to go in?" the girl who was already scared trembled with the cold voice of the knights.

"I was here to get spare clothes for Ole, he had asked me to help him." the girl shouted but her voice was still trembling and she was fidgeting at her place.

"Jenna had said that you will reward me. I am here only taking so much risk. Are you not going to give me anything?" though fidgeting, she asked in a cold voice as she looked at the knights.

The threat was clear, if you will not reward me, I will go and complain to the knights.

Edward chuckled, without minding her greed a bit. The greed was good, it helps in manipulating others and keeping them to his side.

"Of course, I always like to reward wise girls like you who know where to show their loyalty!" he nodded his head with appreciation as he walked towards his coat and took out all the money it had.

"I only have this much now. But if you would continue to support me I will give you bags of gold that you can never even think of. Your whole life would change!" the girl's eyes filled with the shine of the gold and a wide greedy smile on her face as she nodded.

"Then call me whenever you want. I will be happy to help!" She shoved all the money in her dress and ran to pick up a dirty piece of clothing before running away from the room.

She winked at the old man with a bright smile on her face just as she reached the door and then left.

Edward looked at the bottle in his hands and chuckled again. But in the next second, his expressions turned pale as if he would faint any second.

He dragged his exhausted body towards the door and knocked lightly,

"What is it?" asked the knight with a cold look on his face that made the man shiver in fear,

"I.. am here to ask for a favor! I want to meet my daughter and have dinner with the whole family." the eyes of the knight instantly turned cold as he shook his head without a second thought.

"What for? What made you think that you can do so? Stay here, your dinner will come soon." the man trembled as if he was scared to his wits and shook his head abruptly.

"No! I did not want to eat that special meal. I did not want to be here in the first place.

Please let me go and meet the duke once. I will apologize to him and ask for his permission to leave the palace.

I will never come back to this place. I do not want Evangeline or any help. I just want to live my life peacefully. Please let me go!" soft sobs left his lips and he looked too frail and weak with that stature.

His eyes were red and his face had sunken due to hunger and exhaustion that he looked harmless.

"If you are still afraid of an old man like me, then you can come with me and stay with me all the time here.

Do you think I will be able to act against strong men like you with this frail body?" his voice was so pleading and the thought of him leaving from her for good tempt the men as they looked at each other for their advice when the old man continued,

"In fact, I have a lot of gold in my carriage. As my repentance, I will give all the gold to you. You have suffered a lot because of me!"