Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Why is there some problem?" the cold voice was enough to froze him right there.

"..." the knight could only shake his head at Leo's question. 

"No, my lord. Then shall I take other knights to the training ground after escorting the carriage to the palace." his tone was strained, and though he was trying to smile, it was uglier than the cries. 

But Leo did not erected or ask any question, he simply shook his head again leisurely.

"Let other knights go, I also need one knight with me. So you will stay." thump, the last hope of the knight also shattered into tiny pieces by leo. He looked as if he would fall on the ground right there with a thud. It took all his energy to sit there and nod his head.

"Yes, my lord." the sound hardly came out of his lips. He slowed the speed of his horse, so he left behind. While the carriage moved with speed.

'`Why are you so worried?" asked another knight who was watching the interaction from far away. Even the ears of other knights perked up. The head of the knight had stopped knocking the carriag since the last time when he had seen something he had not imagined his lord could do in the carriage.

It was apt that every strong man had an achilles heel. And evan was one for Leo, who was not even realizing that he was breaking all his rules for her. The head of the knight shook his head and looked back at the knight who was on the verge of crying.

"Hurricane had come at the duke's palace. I had especially received a message while lord was in the academy to not let them come to the palace and only the lady should enter back by the hurricane.``He wanted to cry and tell them how they could even think that he had control over leo.

Leo was his master, not the other way around. But he had no one to listen to his grievances. 

"How did that happen?"

"No! The question was why did they want the master to not enter the palace?" though there were many questions and a wave of panic rose in the heart of every knight. They controlled their voices and continued to whisper as they knew how sharp was leo. He must have realized that something was up!

Their faces filled with sympathy for the knights who were going to face his death today and felt relief that they did not receive the letter or it could have been them who would be going on the death parade.

Leo could see the knights talking to each other and looking at each other sympathetically from the space between the two curtains but he could not hear what they were talking about! His mind started to work on what could be the reason behind their agitation when the coachman announced. 

"We have arrived, my lord." his eyes shifted from knights to the lady in the carriage who was still sleeping soundly. She had no sign of waking up anytime soon.

His face was leaning on the window whose curtains were opened by her before sleeping. The light rays were dancing over her skin and her face was glowing. She had a soft skin like babies which always made him wonder how it could be?

Commoners mostly work in the field and all the chores were done by them personally. They often spend most of the time under the sun. Yet when he saw her, except a bit rough and calloused hands, her whole skin was soft and glowing as if she had spent all her life in care of a lot of servants.

"My lord." he heard the sound of coachman again. It had already been a minute or two when the carriage had stopped yet they were still in. None of the knights had the courage to go and open the door carelessly after the last incident. Even the head of the knights took a step back when all the knights looked at him.

Leo gritted his teeth as he looked at the girl. How could she still be sleeping? They did not have a female knight with them whom he could ask to wake her up and he would not do it by himself. Not when she behaved like that.

His eyes narrowed at her face and he glared at her. But Evan was sleeping too soundly to know about the snow blizzard. She rubbed her hands on her arms and then adjusted her posture a bit and continued sleeping.

He fumed and coughed, once, twice, thrice, but the girl was sleeping as if she had heard the lure of the siren and was hypnotized to sleep. There was no sign of her waking up any time soon.

He gritted his teeth and took out his sword from his belt. Giving a last look to her, he threw the sword on the floor of the carriage. The sound of clank filled the carriage, it was loud enough to wake up a sleeping person but Evan who was habitual of all the sounds made in the field and the shouting of her father a few times to her mother, did not even show a hint of waking up. She continued to sleep, making him speechless.

He could not bear the torture anymore. His face had darkened yet the woman was too imprudent to not care about the place and position anymore.

He opened his side of the door and came out from the carriage with slow steps and then turned back to look at the knight he had ordered to stay with him today. 

"Call a maid from the palace who could help in bringing the lady out of the carriage." came his low growl leaving the imagination of the knights wild.. Then without even waiting for their reply, he turned and walked towards the entrance of the palace.