Lord Eric

The atmosphere at the table was tense to the point it was almost suffocating. Mr Blake looked like he was about to collapse which was a stark contrast to the usual composed and indifferent master they were used to. Beads of sweat of perspiration trickled down his forehead. Although he tried to look calm, his hands that were shaking hard under the table gave it away.

Lady Rosalie was not better off either. She was slightly fidgeting in her chair and had a small smile on her face but fear danced in her eyes.

On the other hand, the guest looked completely relaxed. His long legs were crossed and a finger was tapping on his thigh rhythmically. He looked bored and lazy. He even looked like he was the owner of the house not the guest.

"Can Mr Blake explain to me why my fiancee, Lady Juliana is engaged to another man?" the man asked in a low deep voice. His expression could not be seen as he was wearing a mask but his eyes were cold and emotionless.

Evelyn was shocked by this earth shattering news. As she placed down the tray, she met the man's cold black eyes. He gave her a meaningful look. Evelyn felt spooked and quickly looked down. She bowed and turned to leave quickly with Margaret following behind her.

Margaret caught up with her. They looked at each and saw in the shock in each other's eyes. Evelyn closed the door. "Did you hear that?" Margaret whispered. "Lady Juliana is that scary man's fiancee!"

Evelyn nodded dumbly. When was Lady Juliana engaged to this man? Neither of them knew. But what was puzzling was that if Juliana was engaged to this man, then why did the master and his wife get her engaged to George Reed?

She had just turned to leave when Margaret pulled her. "What are you doing?"

"Shh, I want to hear what they are saying," Margaret said and pressed her ear against the door.

"Eavesdropping is bad. What if we get caught?" Evelyn did not want to get punished because of something silly.

"Just shut up and listen!" Margaret whispered back fiercely. Evelyn closed her mouth obediently. She did not want to annoy this sweet yet hot tempered lady.

Inside the living room, the Blake couple did not immediately reply to the masked man's question. The man did not hurry them and helped himself with a cup of tea.

Mr Blake finally spoke carefully. "Lord Eric, you seem to have forgotten that it was just a verbal agreement."

The man drank the tea elegantly and placed the cup down. "So because it was a verbal agreement, you can just go back on your word? How typical of you. I thought that you were an honest and upright person but then..."

He suddenly trailed off, making the couple look nervously at him. He rubbed his fingers and continued, "...as a man who can cheat on your wife openly for so many years , you can't be considered an honest and upright person, right?"

Lady Rosalie clenched her fists. Although she knew that her husband had been cheating on her, hearing from someone still made her heart ache. Leonard looked at her wife who was struggling not to cry and pursed his lips.

Lord Eric looked at the door and raised an eyebrow before turning his attention to the cup in front of him. "Is it because Mr Blake thinks that I am not good enough for his beautiful and outstanding daughter?"

He titled his head and lowered his voice. "Or is it because you had heard the rumors that the king and I are at odds and is trying to strip me off my title?"

"I..." Leonard did not know what to say. It was true that he had heard of these rumors. Since he was at the royal family's side, he did not want to get involved with the king's enemy.

"Fine then," Lord Eric sighed softly. "I understand."

Leonard's face brightened up immediately. "Thank you Lord Eric for..."

"But I want a compensation," Lord Eric interrupted him with an eerie smile that made him wary.

"What would Lord Eric want? We are willing to do anything," Leonard said.

"You know what I want," Lord Eric's smile grew wider.

The couple's expression changed. They knew what he wanted but they could not give it to him. This was the Blake family's heirloom that has been passed from generation to the next generation. Although it seemed useless as it was nothing special, it was still the family's heirloom. There must be a reason why it was a heirloom.

"Is there nothing else we could compensate you with?" Leonard forced out a smile. Lord Eric shook his head with a helpless look. "Unfortunately no."

Outside the room, Evelyn and Margaret looked at each with wide eyes. "Oh my God, what did we just hear?" Margaret could not help but exclaim. Evelyn quickly covered her mouth. "Do you want us to get caught?"

"Hey, what are you two doing there?!" Margaret and Evelyn were startled to see an angry Mr Charles. "We are just about to leave." Evelyn spoke up. Under the hawk eye of the butler, she dragged Margaret away. Sheesh, he was simply everywhere.

Three invisible black lines appeared on Mr Charles forehead. "These two trouble makers will surely be the death of me one day."

Margaret and Evelyn were still shocked by the fact that Lady Juliana was once engaged to Lord Eric. Lord Eric. The name itself sent shivers down her spine. It sounded like a curse...

He was so cold and terrifying. There were too many rumors about him. Rumors were that he could kill people in cold blood without batting an eye. Some said he even ate human flesh. He was the reincarnation of the devil while others said he was the devil himself in the flesh.

He always wore a black mask. People say he hides his face because it's disfigured. They made the man seem to be a monster.

She knew that these rumors were exaggerated as he did not seem as vicious as people deemed him to be. Instead he appeared to be a little desolate. But then again, there's no smoke without fire.

There must be something that he had once done or is doing that made people believe he was a monster. No wonder Mr Blake did not want his daughter to be associated with this strange man.

He lived in an old strange mansion with his four powerful servants. That old mansion had a scary history and no one dared to use it until Lord Eric bought it.

Before Lord Eric moved in, it used to belong to a big family ages ago. It was said one day they went to sleep at night and none ever woke up again. There were no signs of struggle and looked like they were just sleeping peacefully. All the members of the family and servants were found dead.

No one knew what caused them to die. The council had investigated that case for a long time but couldn't came up with any results and it was closed.

Right after the mysterious strange yet tragic death of the family, there were stories that the mansion was haunted and people saw the ghosts of the family at night and no one dared to buy this mansion. That was until Lord Eric came.

"Maggie, we are not going to tell anyone what we heard understood?" Evelyn stopped Margaret and said seriously. Margaret who already couldn't wait to tell the other servants frowned, "Why not?"

"Have you ever thought why no one knows Lady Juliana and Lord Eric were engaged? It was kept as a secret."

"It means they did not want anyone to know. If we were to tell anyone and it reaches the master's ears then..."

"We would be dead," Evelyn said. Margaret made a zipping motion. "I won't tell but it's just so difficult to keep such juicy gossip to myself."

Considering Margaret's gossipy nature, she did not have faith that her dear friend would be able to keep her mouth shut. Anyway she just hoped she would take her words seriously.

They met Travis on the way who was holding a bouquet of flowers. Margaret nudged at her. "Look your little handsome suitor brought you flowers again."

Evelyn's lips twitched. When Travis saw her, his eyes lit up and he handed Evelyn the flowers. "Evelyn, I was looking for you!"

He had his eyes only on Evelyn, completely ignoring Margaret. Margaret looked at him in annoyance. Did he not see her? Was Evelyn only standing here?

"You don't have to bring me flowers," Evelyn smiled helplessly. Travis became downcast. "Do you not like the flowers? I thought that lilies were your favorite."

Margaret coughed and gave her a meaningful look. Evelyn ignored her. "I do like lilies but you don't have to trouble yourself."

Actually Evelyn had long noticed that Travis had feelings for her. She would be stupid to not notice when he was actively attentive to her. However Evelyn was not interested in falling in love with anyone. She did have a good impression of this bashful young man but that was it.

So she did not hesitate to make it clear to him that she was not interested but the young man was persistent.

"There will be a circus in town tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?" He asked hopefully. Not many managed to attend the circus as there were few seats and the tickets were quite expensive. It was quite hard to get the tickets.

Travis had spent his three months salary to buy two tickets in advance. He was determined to take Evelyn out and spend some time with her.

Evelyn was about to politely decline when Margaret pinched her hard and leaned forward. She whispered, "Please don't refuse the poor boy. I mean just look at his starry hopeful eyes."

She sighed resignedly and reluctantly agreed. Travis was delighted. "Okay. Tomorrow meet me at the well at five pm!"

With that he hurried off happily.

"I'm so envious," Margaret said after Travis left. "I have never been at a circus before but here you are just being invited casually."

"You can go in my stead if you want," Evelyn replied as she began to walk away. She had been at a circus once and she didn't mind letting Margaret take her place.

"Hey, wait up!" Margaret caught up with her. "Your life is so dull and boring. A little lover can brighten it up."

"I'm not interested," she said nonchalantly.

"You should consider the little guy. He is head over heels in love with you."

Evelyn could feel a headache coming with Margaret talking non stop. She managed to find a way to get rid of her and sat in a corner alone. Finally, she could get some peace.