The Family Dinner
"Your highness! How was your day? Did you face any kind of trouble while dealing with those scrooges?" asked Anthony in a worried voice as he looked at the exhausted face of the man who once used to be full of joy and energy.
He misses the old duke too much.
"you should watch before you speak. And no, I am fine." warned Garrison as Anthony took his coat and followed him towards his table, "I will have my dinner here only and I did not want anything fancy. A simple meal would do. Is there any news for me?" asked Garrison as he settled on his seat and opened the file in front of him again with a blank look on his face when Anthony shifted his weight from one foot to another searching for proper words. He did not know if the news of the woman coming in the palace was a good one or bad one for his master.
"That.." he hesitated for a second when Garry raised his brow and looked at his aide who hardly stuttered.
"Lady Anastasia had visited. She had met her appointed masters already and I heard from a maid that the meeting did not go well. Then she went with the head maid and I heard that…" the door of the office knocked before he could finish and he frowned.
"What is it?" he asked when the knight entered.
"Your highness, lady Greta had brought lady Revendale in. she said that she wanted to meet you.'' The knight was a bit hesitant since he knew that his master did not meet anyone after a certain time and he had come tired from a long meeting from the royal palace.
He must not be in a good mood.
"Let her in.'' The cold but velvety voice echoed in the room without much emotion when the knight bowed his head and left the room while Anthony took a step back too.
In a few seconds, Greta held the door for Anastasia who walked in and bowed her head slightly. Her eyes stared at the man as if she was assessing his expressions.
"Your highness. How have you been these days?" she asked in a soft voice.
"I have been well, my lady. But i hope that your visit here did not tire you much. I will ask the chef to prepare something nourishing for you since I heard that you spend quite a time working here.'' He was not at all annoyed by her coming uninvited or disturbing him at a late hour. Their interaction was nothing like a man and woman engaged to each other but much formal as if they were men working together.
"That is kind of you but it won't be needed. I am going to have my dinner with Rowan. I have already promised him and he must be waiting for me." Finally her voice softened and showed a bit of emotion when his gaze flickered. "Anyways, I will not take much of your time since I know that you must be retiring for the day too."
She walked forward and placed the file on the table with the two parchment papers she was writing before.
"Since I have to take over the position of the duchess in a week. I wanted to know what is responsible for her position. So, I went to her office without your permission. I apologize, but i am glad that I did.
I do not know much about the working of your palace. But when I asked the countess to provide me with the budget for the last two weeks so that I could learn a few things from it, I found so many discrepancies and mistakes that I was stunned." she sighed in an exaggerated manner as she shook her head.
"I am leaving the budgets and the mistakes found here so that you can double check and confirm yourself. Once again I apologize for stepping on my boundaries." she bowed her head, ready to leave the office when he gave a quick glance to the parchment and his eyes darkened.
He looked at the woman standing behind Ana who trembled. Greta had never thought that the woman was able to find mistakes so fast.
She only thought that.. Ana was trying to show off. But her interaction with the duke was rather cold.
As Ana walked out of the room, Greta took a step forward to look for herself but she froze when her eyes met the duke.
"There must be some misunderstanding, your highness. I would personally check everything again this time. If you could tell me what the lady found, I would.."
"That would not be needed!" He cut her in half with a cold look in his eyes. "Let her do it. It is her job from now anyways. Your work is only to assist her." he closed the files but instead of giving it back to Greta, he placed it in the drawer of his table.
"Then… I shall take my leave too." her frozen body moved after much force as her eyes darkened at the file. He had placed it with his important papers.
She wondered what Ana had found in such a small time but failed to grasp it. When she did not get any replies, she turned to leave when the man called her again.
"Wait.. the dinner with Rowan, i will join it too."