29 "LOVE OF HER"

Hugh didn't even bat an eye to the shimmering golds decorating his bathroom and immediately went to the porcelain tub that was larger than the normal size as they are customized for him.

The warm water immediately made him relax. Then, remembering that Hans was at the other side of the door, Hugh immediately asked him a question.

"Is Leticia satisfied with the arrangements here?"

His voice was still cold and nonchalant but Hans noticed that they were softer?

'Is it just my imagination?' Hans thought before he replied. "I made sure that Lady Leticia was given all her needs-"

"Lady Leticia? Did you just call her by name?!"

Hans was flustered as he was stopped in the middle of his report just because of the way he called the guest. And he can feel that someone was staring at him with murderous intent at the other side of the door.

Hans immediately explained himself, "The Lady said to call her by that, Your Grace…"

"She said that?"

"Yes, Your Grace…"

Hans narrowed his brows, 'Why is he angry?'

It became quiet for a second before Hans heard his Master's response.

"Don't call her that! Call her something else!" Hugh said in a low tone that made Hans answer in a beat.

"Then, Your Grace, I'll call her my lady from now on."

"..."

Hugh didn't answer but Hans knew and regarded it as yes. He was the Duke's head butler, so he understood him better.

But what he didn't understand was why he got so angry just because he called the Lady by her name?

'I won't jump to conclusions, so I'll watch for now. I think I need to tell the servants to pay closer attention to how they call the lady from now on…'

***

Hans went outside as Hugh kicked him out after he said that Leticia stayed in her room for three days before she decided to get a tour. And she's always in the garden.

["Where is she now?"] Hans remembered hearing Hugh's question and he answered with ["She's at the guest room, Your Grace."]

Hugh kicked him out then. And Hans seemed to sense that he was irritated, that was why he followed and quietly left the Master's room.

'What's his problem?' Hans asked himself as he looked back. He then leaves behind his thoughts to go see Leticia and tell her that the Duke wants to see her at dinner.

***

Meanwhile, Leticia, still in the garden, appreciating the beauty of the greenery and the flower bed, heard the bushes behind her rustles.

"Hazel, is that you? Can you tell me-"

She didn't get to finish her words as she turned around and the person that she thought would be there to get her was unexpectedly someone else she had never seen before.

She blinked a few times, flustered at the sudden appearance of a man clad in armor with stains of blood, mud, and dirt.

They stared at each other and didn't know who should be the one to speak first.

Leticia quietly waited for the man to talk first seeing that he's flustered like her. The man was also confused to see someone in the garden.

'He seems to be someone that arrived with Hugh…' Leticia immediately concluded.

His green colored hair and eyes seems to make Leticia calm down as it reminds her of a vast land behind the hill with flowers scattered in the plains as the sun and clear blue sky above explicitly shine down and the wind casts its spell to make the plants move and sway as the air blows just like a calm summer.

However, even if the man reminded him of the calm summer, Leticia just stayed still.

'Should I talk first? But he seems confused…' she added.

After a while, the man behind the bushes stepped forward and opened his mouth.

"Um…"

But he didn't know what to say. He was also ashamed that someone saw him in this state, especially a Lady he's never seen before. However, he needed to know the identity of the said Lady.

"Pardon my impudence, my lady. I'm Austin, the vice-leader of the Black Stallion Knight. Please forgive my appearance that I showed to you, I just arrived from doing a mission and didn't know that the lady is in the garden but may I know the identity of the lady?"

Austin asked in a distance away from where she sits in the garden's grass.

"Oh… My name's Leticia. I'm a guest of the Duke."

Leticia answered. She could evidently see that Austin became more confused than ever.

"You're a guest of the Duke? And Hans let you in?"

Now, she's the one who is confused.

'What does it mean? Does Hans kick the guest of the Duke away?'

She decided to explain further, seemingly seeing Austin in a deep thought.

"Sir Mike was the one who escorted me so that's why I think Hans let me in…"

"Mike?"

Leticia tilted her head as to wonder why Austin seems to be baffled at the situation.

'What's so wrong with it?' she asked herself.

Then she heard Austin uttered words.

"I see… Mike huh."

"His Grace arrived with us. If you want to meet him you can call Hans and ask for an appointment as his Grace would be busy for the next few days." Austin kindly talled her, knowing the personality of their commander that would immediately report to the King.

"Thank you for telling me. I'll keep that in mind. Then if you'll excuse me, I'll go now."

"Oh! Of course, Lady."

"You can call me Leticia. Everyone here called me that."

"Then, I'll call you that, Lady Leticia."

Austin smiled and bowed his head slightly. Leticia also smiled in response.

"Then, it's nice meeting you, Sir Austin."

Leticia left the knight and went towards the palace.

Meanwhile, Austin just stood there and looked at her silhouette that started to vanish as she further went inside.

***

In the afternoon, Austin decided to go to the knights training ground after he freshened himself up.

He wanted to ask Mike about her and what really happened in the two months that their commander went missing. And how it came to a situation that the Duke decided to bring her to the estate in the Capital with Mike escorting her.

"That's a big deal considering it's him…"

He strode down the hallways and into the door and went outside the knights quarter with determination to see Mike and asked about her.

He could not erase from his mind the lady that he saw in the garden smiling towards the peony flowers.

He recalled her arctic color full skirt that seemed to mirror the blue sky above her head and formed a circle around her. She was holding a pink peony flower and smelling it before she put it beside her ear.

She looks like an earth goddess that Austin thought he was starting to hallucinate since he didn't get a proper sleep for the last few days.

When she smiled as she looked up at the sky, it was like the depiction of the fairytale that he saw once when he was young. It was titled "Love of her", a story about a goddess who loves her people so much that she decided to reside beside them.

Even her blinded appearance caused by the sun's intense rays actually adds charm to the overall appearance. She looks so calm and serene and the surroundings seem to be made for her.

But there's no way that His Grace would let her in just because she's too pretty!

The Capital has a lot of noble ladies that's also famous for their beauty but the Duke never glances at them. So, why?

Questions inside his head continue to pile up and the answers go unanswered.

Then, Austin seemingly has a funny thought but ceases as soon as he thinks about it as it seems impossible and unimaginable because it's the Duke that he was talking about.

"I must be going crazy!" Austin mumbled as he shook his head.

"But she's really beautiful…" he added then he saw in the corner of his eyes that there was Mike swinging his sword.

"Mike!"

Mike didn't hear him and was still doing his thing.

"Mike!!! Stop that for a second, I have something to ask!" He screamed.

By then, Mike stopped swinging his sword and looked at the direction of Austin who was walking towards him like a bull.

"Why are you screaming so much?!" Mike asked, irritated at the vice-leader's attitude.

"I'm still older than you, you know!" Mike added.

"Whatever…" Austin responds as he stands in front of him.

"Whose the lady that you brought?"

"You already met her? Even His Grace didn't see her."

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Austin narrowed his brows as he looked at Mike.

"Who really is she? She said that she's a guest of His Grace but the Duke never lets people in his residence even if it's a high ranking noble. So? What did she do to get a pass?"

Mike sighed at how Austin questioned him. He roughly brushed his murky hair because even himself doesn't know why the cold Duke would do something that was out of ordinary.

"Look, Austin… even I don't know what happened in the past two months that the Duke went missing. All I know is she saved him and His Grace ordered me to escort her here."

When Austin heard Mike's explanation he became trapped to his thoughts.

Mike, who was standing there, saw him in deep thoughts and clicked his tongue, "He's doing it again…"

"This guy always over-thinks things. Guess, I'll end my training here." Mike left Austin and went to the knights quarters and didn't look back at Austin who stood in the middle of the training ground.

"Crazy guy…" Mike mumbled.