Abducted

Ariana stared into his guileless green eyes and in her gentle voice she refuse, "It's is unnecessary, Your Grace."

"My brother and I will be living with our relatives. Its pointless to protect us. However, I genuinely appreciate your kind words," added Ariana.

She'll never accept this unexpected betrothment with the duke, even though she'd have to live with the aggravating family of Count Cara, if she disincline to be engage to the duke.

A heavy silence fall upon them as the duke with his unreadable face intently fixed his gazed on Ariana face without saying anything, thus making Ariana feel extremely uncomfortable.

She's oblivious of how beautiful and alluring she is at the moment, with her long white hair cascaded down on her shoulders and her large ocean blue eyes gazed at him with a bit of annoyance.

"I suppose not," Aidan said indifferently.

Upon hearing him, Ariana narrow her eyes at him and said, "Your Grace, I think we should leave." Ariana said, ignoring his disapproval.

"Everyone might've been worried searching for both of us," she further added.

The duke green eyes peered at Ariana for a while and instantly put on his mask and steadily walked past her.

Ariana blink her eyes in surprised at his demeanor, when he suddenly utter in his monotonous voice, "Let's go."

Ariana immediately followed behind him. As she observe his aloof and domineering back, at that instance she felt she did the right decision to opposed the engagement with him. He took her comparable to a servants, unlike a fiancee he presumed her to be, with the way he's enunciating his words similar to a commands.

*****

"Sister Leah, have you seen my sister!?" Jace hastily cried out to Leah.

"Goodness, Jace!!!!"

Leah exclaimed, while putting her hand on her chest in shocked at his abrupt appearance, scaring her since she was entirely and immensely engrossed in creating the herbs into a medicines, which was place on the large table in the small wooden house at the back yard of the church.

"My apologies, Sister Leah, I'm in a hurry." Jace meekly apologize to her.

"Have you seen my sister?" he further asked her.

"Ariana? I haven't seen her since yesterday, " Leah spoke in perplexed.

"What happened?" she further inquired.

"Our uncle servant is outside the village and he wanted to meet my sister," Jace told Leah.

"You've an uncle?"

Leah initially thought they did not had any relatives left, thus they stayed in Dulwich village since the outbreak.

"Yeah, distance uncle." Jace replied nonchalantly.

The Count of Cara was their father cousin, although the count himself was an honest, respectable and upright gentleman, however his whole family are hypocrite, deceptive and self-indulgent, almost destroying the count righteous reputation.

"I... "

"What's wrong?" Ezavius suddenly interrupted them.

"My Lord."

"Lord Ezavius."

Leah and Jace instantly nodded to Ezavius in greetings.

"My Lord, have you perhaps seen Lady Ariana?" Leah immediately asked Ezavius.

"I haven't." Ezavius responded in confusion, "As a matter of fact, I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"What??? She took a rest in your resting place." Leah uttered in dismayed.

All of a sudden, Ezavius looked at Leah in the eyes in perplexed, "My resting place was already destroyed yesterday and there was not a single person in the room."

Both Ezavius and Leah gazed at each other in terror, at that instance they both realised she might've been abducted.

"Did something happened to my sister?" Jace queries, as he seen their strange face, which appeared aghast, especially Leah who seem to be pale.