Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Didn't you say that you have brought my reward just a minute ago!!'' Her voice was sharp as she put both her hands on her waist and looked at him with sharp eyes. 

One wrong answer and she will pounce on him and beat him.

"You took 12 seconds!!"

".........."

Was he serious? He did not offer her a reward because she took two extra seconds in opening the door? Could he be any more shrewd? Her whole face turned red and her eyes blazed fire, if looks could kill, he would have died by now!

"Cough '' Leo cleared his throat when he felt increasing blood lust from her body!

"Come here! I will teach you the shortcut method of learning these names and their positions.`` He was sure the first thing his aunt expected her to know was the name of nobles and she would ask the most crucial one to insult her further! The way she had smirked and told him that she would handle this matter perfectly, he was sure she had already devised a plan. The peace and tranquility that the palace had today was nothing but the silence before the storm.

But oblivious to the turmoil Leo was facing, Evan looked away defiantly and did not move at all! His eyes narrowed on her face but she did not cower back or look back at him.

"So, you do not want the reward at the end of the day!!" he said with a smirk on his face but she still did not look back at him.

'Scrooge! Miser! He always tells me that he will give me a reward and force me to do his bidding but whenever I ask for the reward, he does not give it to me and even continues to blame me for not getting it.

No! I would not listen to him anymore. I will not hear a word! No! No!' she continued to remind herself the way he had tricked her again and again!

On the other side, Leo sat on the sofa. His one leg over another, he had that devilish smile on his face as he looked at her struggle. His eyes were set on her face, the way she bit her lips and murmured. He was sure she was cursing him in her heart.

She finally took a deep breath and cussed him again. A look of defeat was on her face. His lips curled downwards as she looked at him and dragged her body and sat in front of her.

"So, you are finally done cussing me?" he raised a brow and then picked up the first book from the table. His long fingers held the book gracefully. His eyelashes dropped when he looked down to read it. 

'...' could she say yes! No! She could never be done cursing him! He was taking her benefit from the start!

"We needed to learn the list during our debutante. That is our coming of age ceremony. Because before that we only met our family, relatives and friends. I know how difficult it could be. That was the time when someone special introduced a song to help them learn it easily. Since you love music, it will be easy for you to learn the song and then you will remember it in a very short period of time." his eyes filled with a look of longing when he said the last line. He looked outside the window as if the person was still standing under the twilight hue and smiling at him.

Her eyes enlarged when she heard his explanation. Since when had this iceberg started explaining his actions. Wasn't he habitual of giving only orders?

But her curiosity peaked when she looked at his longing face. Was it his lover? Was he missing him in front of her? The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.

"What is so great about making a song? I can do that too anytime." she replied with a snort and his gaze moved back to her and he blinked. Even she was surprised at the worst that left her mouth unconscious! Why did she say so? What did it matter if she could make a song or not? He did love the girl for her song making ability anyway!

She had closed her eyes as she was waiting for his sarcastic remark, but it did not come the way she had expected!

"Of course, you are good when it comes to music."

Her jaw hit the floor when she heard him! Did he just compliment her? Then her face filled with pride and her eyes breamed. She even forgot that she was angry with him with that small complement and craned her neck like a proud peacock. 

He wanted to laugh at her antics but pursued his lips as he knew she would turn conscious then.

"Mmm.. what is the song you are talking about?" she even forgot that she had decided to deny him to remember the names. Why did she need to learn them anyway?

"Reynold Grasitias loved the lady Lina while William Thawyne was crazy for Elena…" he closed his eyes and continued to sing the song in his sweet voice that even surprised her.

She felt that his voice had suddenly turned charming and his face was looking sexier today. No doubt so many women were vying for this man! But they did not know that he could turn every woman crazy in more ways than they knew! She shook her head and decided to concentrate more on the song lyrics in case he would ask her later.

She held her chin with her right hands while her other hand tapped the glass of the table. She had heard this song before. Though she did not remember where. She had learnt it in her childhood.

As Leo started to sing the song in his seductive voice, the words came to flow in the mind of Evan, his eyes closed and before Leo could sing the rest of the song..

"The knight won the heart of the countess.."

"While the baroness was the princess of Ansal town."