Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"If you want to give me a coin, give me a few more so that I can fulfil my wishes without the wish fountain." her face was full of longing and it made him curious who she was missing. As far as he had heard, her parents are no more and she did not have any siblings.

She was alone in the world, yet she wanted to run away. Could she have a lover or.. He shook his head at that thought. What did it have to do with him. Once he would be free from this marriage, they would never meet again.

Evan looked around at the beautiful garden. It was different from the one she had walked before. The wisteria tree and other flowers were dancing in the breeze and the place was looking no less than the fairytale with the fountain nearby.

"There is a lake too." he stated when he saw her looking around with keen eyes.

"Can we take a walk here for a while?" she asked and he nodded and walked closer to her when she added, "with my own feet?" as she covered her legs with her hands on which he shook his head.

"The grass is soft here and the garden is also well maintained. There would be no problem walking here." she smiled awkwardly when she noticed he was just splashing water over his face and took no initiative in holding her.

They both started walking under the moonlight. It was a beautiful scene, everything was gleaming under the moonlight. Feeling awkward in the silence, she decided to initiate a conversation.

"So, what do you do?" though she asked it just to be courteous, he replied her rather seriously,

"I am the head of the knights who were assigned to kill the traitors, criminals and the rogues of other empires that entered our boundaries." she could see the glint in his eyes. He was looking excited when he was talking about killing as if he was talking about something exciting and a leisurely fun activity.

Evan kept her mouth shut as she did not know how to reply to that or continue the conversation and she was glad that he did not explain it to her further.

"So, what is the exact plan?" He must be eager to get rid of her as he did not talk to her about anything else except the plan to prove herself as a wicked and greedy person.

"I will behave like a haughty woman who has suddenly gained treasure and behave rudely with other nobles. And when I would be asked to behave I would ask them to bow down as I am higher noble to them." she replied proudly and looked at him with expecting eyes. She was hoping that he would praise her or at least nod in satisfaction but he frowned instead.

"But you are a higher noble. Except the royal families, you are the one with the highest power and they would bow down to you anyway." she looked at him with wide eyes. Was he serious? Did he not understand that she was a commoner and they would never accept to give her this much respect even if they were higher nobles as her origin was not among them.

"I am not part of your family." she cleared but he did not get her point at all.

"As my wife, you will be part of the family." Once again Evan was at a loss of words. She had not expected him to accept her rude behavior as part of her rights. He must be a dotting lover that he did not realize this part of behavior was wrong to begin with.

"I think you should let me handle it. You just play your part when the time arrives." he frowned at her statement, it felt like she treated him dumb that could not understand her worfds. So, she did not want to waste her energy in explaining it to him.

This was the first time when someone had looked down on him.

"How would I play my part when I did not know the whole act. Are you looking down on me, miss Evangeline?" His words were cold and she suddenly felt a seat running down on her nape even when the night was chilly. He truly was filled with a murderous aura when he was angry.

"How could I do that, my lord? It is just that the plan is not concrete yet. You just have to behave angry when others tell you that I am not a good person and agree with them or you can stay silent and let your father act." he finally nodded, much to her relief. Talking to him was like covering your neck all the time. God knows when he felt angry and attack on oyu with the sword.

"Shall we sit here for a minute?" she looked at the glowing water which was looking ethereal and he nodded. When she sat there he moved and took an apple from the tree nearby and passed it to her.

She smiles with gratitude at his act of kindness. She did not have her meal properly and after wandering around all night she was rather hungry.

"Passing the lake there is a dark forest where we do not wander during the night. On the left side there is an orchid and on the right side, there is a gazebo where mother used to have her evening tea. Except that there is not much to see. It is late at night, shall we go back?" she felt touched that he asked for her opinion rather than giving her order like always. If only he would behave like that all the time, they could talk like friends.

"Or I can leave and you can continue to explore the area all night. The party would be late anyways." he added making her fume.

'Alright, I take back my words.'