Chapter five

Chapter five

"I will not go mad because of a woman," Philip commanded himself, frowning at Earl who was still smiling amusingly, "besides, it might all be a joke."

"A secret admirer sending you love letters is not a prank your Grace. She loves you," Earl teased again.

Philip opened his mouth in shock, "Are you mad? I am going to get married to Elizabeth soon."

The mood of the room seemed to change, Philip noticed.

Peter watched his friend in pity and confessed, "To be honest, none of us wants you to marry that girl. You are lifeless already. She is just going to add to your boredom."

Philip sighed, that was true. "She's the only one on the list Peter," he noticed Earl open his mouth to speak, but interrupted sternly, "And no Scottish damsel."

The Marquess grinned knowingly.

Suddenly...the mansion became noisy as they heard people shouting fiercely.

Well that startled Jason, "You are a Duke Philip. You sit here and people barge into your home like this behaving like animals."

Philip nodded in acceptance, beginning to walk towards the door. Before he could make it out though, the people had already pushed through the door into the office. There were angry men in his chamber!

"Bring the thief in!" He heard one of them say. Philip himself was too confused to utter a word. Turning to his friends, they had the same expectant look on while this so-called thief was pulled in.

A woman was thrown down to her knees, her long red hair falling over to cover her face. A female thief! This realisation made the Monarchs get on their feet at the same time.

Red hair! Philip recognized that color painfully and commanded, "Raise your head!"

Monica smiled and obeyed slowly, a dirty smirk on her face, "Your Grace."

"You!" The men chorused in shock and disbelief.

The lady laughed nonchalantly, "We meet again my Lords," then she faced Earl, "thank you for the dance last night."

Earl looked away. Philip on the other hand, maintained his cool, "You look nothing like a thief."

Monica rolled her eyes in frustration, jerking her head towards the men behind her, "These dorks say I am." Almost immediately, she pulled a sad face and gawked at the Duke who she found most attractive, "Does this look like the face of a thief to you?"

Jason coughed and whispered silently, "More of a robber."

But Monica heard that loud and clear, "You've never liked me from the start. I do not expect you to change that now."

Earl listened to the whole story, a worried frown on, greatly doubting these men were being honest, "If you are not a thief, why do they say you are?"

"Curses!" She began, "It is just one big misunderstanding. Here I was, walking innocently past and suddenly, they called me a thief."

"That sounds too absurd to be true," The Duke said reasonably.

Monica admired him again, young, witty, charming. And she felt lust all over again, "Do you believe you danced with a thief that night?"

Philip studied her, thinking about her question with a frown. Afterwards, he sighed, looking at her intently, "You're right. I do not. Do you have any real words of justification?"

She grinned, looking at all the lads from left to right just before she bowed and laughed softly. Moments later, she smirked again and replied, "I am the Scottish damsel."

Philip turned to his friends, then back to her, fear written all over his face, something he tried his best to hide from the men behind her.

He faced them and ordered, "You may leave."

Reluctantly, they bowed and stepped out, leaving Monica alone with the high post men.

***

Monica flirted happily, "The empire chose a group of fine, young men to lead us I must say."

Earl shook his head, smiling inevitably, "You are a different type of woman entirely."

She bowed her head in thanks, facing Philip who still seemed to be too shocked to move.

He mused the words she'd said, his brows joined while he looked at the marble floor. Suddenly, he gazed back at her and asked, "So you have been sending those threatening letters?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "And I danced with you."

The Duke smiled at that, remembering the moment he surely fell in love with, "Why am I not supposed to get married to Elizabeth?"

The lady twirled her head seductively, bringing her red curls to her front, "I know a few things about her that could make you reconsider the marriage. If not end it."

As soon as she said that, Philip demanded with a harsh tone, "And what are those?"

"I have a condition," she snarled.

It was at this point the Earl of Vetcom pitched in with a shriek, "This is unreasonable. Why are you demanding things when everything you say might just be a lie?"

That sounded sensible, almost making the Duke agree with him.

But before then, Monica felt she had to do something, "Carry on! But don't say I didn't warn you when she takes over this duchy."

"Takes over my duchy," Philip gasped in fear, "What do you want?"

That was more of what she wanted, to be in control. Biting her lip, she looked up to think. Afterwards, a usual smile appeared on her face, "I will like to say it to the Duke in private." She made sure to stress the last two words.

The five friends turned to Philip who they thought was not doing anything about this. And as they annoyingly expected, he just shrugged and pleaded with them, "Please excuse us. This sounds important. She'll be gone soon."

At that, the lady glared. Oh she was not going anywhere anytime soon.

Reluctantly, his friends left the office one by one, Jason of course being the last one. While he passed, he made sure to show Monica the disapproval he had for her in his eyes.

But contrary to what anyone would expect, she winked at him. The Earl huffed in response, shock clearly on his face.

After she was sure she was alone with the Duke, she forced her tied hands over her head to her front. Philip widened his eyes at that, wondering what she was doing.

Monica smiled at the spikes she had on her boot, taking the rope round her wrists down to it. Slowly, she rubbed it against the sharp edges, tearing the fabric little by little. It wasn't long after that she was finally free.

"How did you do that," Philip stared at her in confusion.

She got to her feet, rubbing dust off her body. Then she gave the lad her full attention, "I have experienced imprisonment numerous times. That is for things I did not do," she quickly added, "Escaping from all of them is not hard at all. Even if you punish me and send me there again, I'll still get out."

The Duke picked a cherry fruit with his fingers, a tiny smirk on, "You little con. What do you want?"

Monica grinned again, clearly enjoying her new name, "I want to join you and the Lords in all you do. I'm talking about sword fighting, hunting, arching, swimming and the likes. I'm good at those."

He smiled and nodded, clearly not surprised, a little bit doubtful though. Looking her up and down, he pointed at her clothes, "Why are you dressed like that?"

She looked down at herself in confusion, "You mean like a fighter I am?"

Philip laughed at that before he replied, "No. Like a pirate. Like a man."

Monica faced him, meeting his eyes for the second time, "I do a lot of things. Things that big, heavy dresses won't let me do. Including running away."

He looked at her, ignoring her last phrase. And there, he recognized that beauty he'd seen yesterday in a manly, hyperactive form, "Very well."

Monica released a shriek, "Are you being serious your Grace?"

He had already begun walking away to the door, "You can join us tomorrow in fishing if you'd like."

She twirled, waving a goodbye frantically, "And by the way, I'm Monica."

He smiled at the name, ."Well you are one of a kind." Placing a hand on the doorknob, he opened it and faced her again, "You may leave now."

She hopped happily to him, fully satisfied her job was done. Almost out the door, she faced him one last time, "Tell your friends not to dislike me so much. I am a good..."

"Goodbye Monica," he interrupted calmly.

She felt slightly embarrassed that the sound of her name on his lips did things to her. Obviously, she loved it and obediently, she curtsied once more and walked away.

He smiled, walking back in while talking to himself, "Monica, the Scottish damsel."

Just then, his friends rushed back in, with Jason being the most angered as always, "Where is she?"

"Gone," Philip answered simply.

Raymond hadn't said a word all this while. But after the Duke said that, he raised a brow in uncertainty, forcing himself to speak, "And what punishment did you give her?"

Philip frowned, "Punish..."

That was when he remembered she was brought in as a thief, his eyes widening because he had just been played.

He would have bet his entire fortune that Earl was going to tease him then. And that was what Earl did, "You shameless Duke."

Philip placed a hand on his face, nodding painfully because his friend was right.