Duke's Intention: Part 1

***

EVELYN who was wearing a bronze fitted pants, her dandelion shirt, the braided black hair with a tint of silver-blue at the ends of strands can be seen circling the mansion since early in the morning. She started to run around the Emsworth household with his Father's "guidance" that she can't do much to opposed it.

*Huff *huff...

She was panting and tried to rest for a bit. Evelyn's hand was placed on both of her knees, trying to give support to her exhausted self. Her neatly braided hair was loosened and the baby strands were all over her face.

-Phew!

Evelyn blows through her mouth to try and disperse the hair that obstructs her visions and asked Gil about the counts.

'Gil... Tell me how many laps I've done so far.'

"You've done only 20, Child."

'What?!'

Shocked, Evelyn wants to surrender and give up this impossible task.

Her small frame can't keep up to run a hundred and eighty more laps with the Emsworth mansion scale that has ten times of a soccer football field.

"You can do it, Child. You've done this before" Gil said, shocking Evelyn in her dazed state.

'How?'

"..."

'Gil? How long do you really know me?!'

"Longer than you think..."

'...'

"Now go on, your Father's been looking at you for a while now."

Evelyn looked back and saw his father folded his arms while his eyes narrowed.

Sensing that she should run again, she reminded herself to hear the reasons from Gil some other time.

'You have a lot of explanation to do, Gil!'

"I know, Child. But still... you're not ready yet!"

'Ready for what?'

"..."

'Gil?'

"..."

'tsk! Always the silent treatment. Fine!'

Evelyn began to jog again. Keeping her pace to make sure she breathes evenly. Making it possible to run for a long time.

***

After successfully running and finishing the two hundred laps, Evelyn who was on the ground was sweating buckets.

An unusual shade came from the top of her head. With her blurry visions, she didn't know who the shadow was from and only tried to focus her eyes on where it came from when it spoke suddenly.

"Aren't you going to get up?"

Listening to the baritone voice, Evelyn knew who it was right away.

Sitting upright, she was greeted by a smile that she was familiar with, accompanied by the black hair and eyes and those slit gazes that she knew well who belongs to.

"Mr. Shiek?!"

"... What are you doing here? I thought that..." Evelyn tried to ask but stop when she realized that it isn't good to ask questions like that.

But Shiek has a different opinion, he talks quite directly without a moment's pause and Evelyn's conveyed an unasked question was answered.

"I was fired? Nope. I was suspended."

"I'm sorry... It's because of me." Evelyn shyly said.

"Nah. You didn't do anything wrong, besides I knew that I'm part to blame for what happened in the Shield Forest"

Shiek was suspended for two weeks because of what happened in the Shield Forest, although he's not the one to blame, someone has to take the punishment and it falls to the hands of Shiek. That's what happened.

"I'm really sorry. If I didn't let my pride had the best of me, that wouldn't happen."

Seeing that Evelyn was sulking and was really sorry, he sits right beside her and Shiek ruffled her hair and smile at her.

"It's fine. Let the adults take responsibility... but you shouldn't do that again, okay?"

*nod

It was like a typical brother and sister interaction, whereas Evelyn can't get from her brother nor his Father.

Evelyn slightly raised her lips and smile, she was looking like her age when Shiek ruffle her hair when suddenly a stern voice was heard from the back.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"..."

"..."

Both Shiek and Evelyn peeped at their backs and saw the silver-blue hair where it reflects the sun and it sparkles like a thin thread, it was majestic... except for the fact that the face was scowling at the two of them!

'Way to ruin the mood' Evelyn thought.

Shiek and Evelyn both stand up.

"Your Grace..." Shiek slowly bends her body and greet the Military-General.

The Duke glared at Shiek before he gives his response to him. Evelyn only looked at his unusual Father, who's doing a lot of bizarre action these days.

"Don't touch my daughter again."

"..."

Shiek didn't answer and only looked at his side quietly where Evelyn was standing while Evelyn flinched when she hears him called her "daughter".

Both of them were confused.

'Huh?! Is he angry because of Shiek's raffling my hair?'

Shiek who was confused answered a bit later but eventually agreed to his command.

Duke Keene finally glanced at his daughter, his eyes were slowly giving away calmness whenever she saw her recently.

And Evelyn who didn't see the looked on his face only thinks that his father was behaving strangely.

"Did you finished the 200 laps?"

The Duke asked Evelyn, getting her out of her thought.

"Ye-yes..."

"..."

"...Let's do the other routines, Shiek will also be your sparring partner."

***

After a week of training with the Duke, Evelyn was slowly getting scared of the unusual behavior of his Father.

She thought that he will just show up in the first few days, but it's been a week and his father hasn't been saying awful things to her that made Evelyn think twice.

"Is he going to marry me off? But the engagement was postponed with the assassination accident. Besides, he doesn't like me and the royal family."

Evelyn was confused so she puts down the thought of "marrying off with the royal family", the reason why the " scumbag" suddenly changed and is giving his attention to her lately, was still unknown.

Evelyn was pacing back and forth in her room, biting her fingernails without knowing.

"I don't know what he's thinking but I should find Gab first!"

Finding Gab is the top priority of Evelyn. She needs to have Gab become the male steward that will protect her in case of another mishap.

***

Arriving at where Gab is being detained, Evelyn purposely made her way in without care for the stationed knights.

"Gab?"

"Hmm?"

With Evelyn's orders, Gab was placed into a better abode near the training area. She made the butler give him a proper room so that he can adjust to the life inside the mansion.

She also made a proposition to the Duke to make him her personal butler. After a lot of convincing, the Duke agreed, only "IF" Gab will be in the same level of education as Jede within a month.

Evelyn knew that it was quite a challenge, but she also knew that it was her only chance to get Gab away from the isolation.

"Gab... I think you know this but you need to pass the test of butler Jede for you to get out from here."

"..."

"You don't want to be locked in here, right?"

"What choice do I have? And besides, it's better for me to take lessons from Jede. Being a butler is fine than becoming a slave again."

Evelyn sits down on the small couch that Gab prepared and offered. It was uncomfortable for Evelyn's butt but still, she decided to stay in it.

"You have one month. That's the Duke's condition."

"..."

The red hair guy stops on pouring the tea while he looked at Evelyn who was also staring at him with seriousness.

"... I guess I should do my best then."

"You should!"

"Why are you in a hurry? Like someone is chasing you?"

"I don't have time..."

'I need to prepare myself, even if the engagement party was postponed it doesn't mean that it won't happen in the Crown Prince Birthday Banquet. We're technically engaged... It's just... it wasn't made public yet.'

"What do you mean you don't have time?" Gab asked.

"...that." Evelyn hesitated to tell him about it.

While he has questions that are swirling up inside his head thinking...

'why is this girl so desperate to run away from her own house?'

Who wouldn't think to run away if you know you're future? And the way you're treated here? Of course, he still doesn't know that she wasn't favored by her own family...

Anyway, Evelyn was thinking of a lot of ways to leave the Emsworth mansion without her Father knowing.

She doesn't know when his father will be back from his cold personality and will start to hate her again. She 'needs to strike while the iron is hot' is what Evelyn thought.

And now seems to be the perfect time to plan things out carefully, but before that, she needs Gab's help.

"You can do it, right?"

Evelyn was worried about the one-month time frame that was given by the Duke.

It's too short of a time to learn things at a professional level like Jede.

"Don't worry what's so hard about taking orders?" Gab asked, feeling relaxed.

"Wait... You do know that you need to learn etiquette, tea brewing, read and write, and sword fighting... right?"

"..."

"..."

Silence enveloped the two.

"...Do I really need to learn all of those... just to have your orders?" Gab scratched his face, his cheeks were rosy. He was embarrassed.

Evelyn facepalms herself.

'I knew it would not be easy. Haaa... the future seems bleak...!"