Cold Concerns

After the death of Lady.. the duke had changed completely. The once warm and kind man had become cold and insensitive. It was believed that he had forgotten all the emotions.

Some even said that he had sold his soul to the devil to get rid of all the emotions as it only brought pain for him.

But among all the rumors, one thing was true.. He had forgotten to care about his son too. No matter how much the young lord had suffered from sickness or wounds, the duke never visited him. Even if they met, their conversation was so formal as if they were only acquaintances related to formal ties. There was no warmth at all.

It had made the young lord mature at a young age too. He was sensitive towards the emotion of others and realize the intentions of the person approaching him. The duo was cold and ruthless to those kinds of people.

But.. the duke is taking the initiative to have a meal with the lord only because of that woman? Greta could never fathom what had changed exactly. Why was the lord behaving strangely!

Garrison stood up from the seat and walked towards the door when Greta finally came back to his senses and ran behind him forgetting about her image completely, "wait for me, lord." she shouted as the man frowned.

"And why would I do that?" he asked back, making her stunned and she realized she was being insolent.

"I.. I mean let me go and make the arrangement first and inform the lord, your highness." she cleared her throat but his frown only grew deeper,

"A bunch of tardy and insolent people!" he muttered as he asked her to rush and make the arrangements when she bowed her head and left with her heart beating in her throat.

She only stopped when she reached the chamber of the young lord and adjusted her posture only in front of the kitchen.

The maids bowed in front of her instantly. Finally gaining her confidence back, she raised her head high in the air as she looked at the preparations.

"Is everything ready, chef?" she asked in a haughty voice when the old man nodded his head.

"Everything should be perfect since the future duchess of the palace and your highness are attending the dinner with the lord. No mistake is allowed tonight." she warned when the man was shocked, he was aware of the presence of the woman but even his highness was joining it.

"Was the rumor true, head maid?" he could not help but ask when the woman gritted her teeth.

"Are we talking about rumors in the palace instead of work, hmmm? Do you not want your life anymore?" the man shivered and bowed his head immediately.

"Forgive me, i will arrange things better." he started working again when she nodded and walked out with gritted teeth.

The rumor was that the duke had fallen in love with a woman again and was treating her so precisely that he even accepted her refusals and insults towards his vassal family. She had thought that she would fill the heart of the duke with malice but things are not going according to her. What should she do!

She was still biting her nails as she walked out of the room when her eyes fell on Rowan who was returning from his practice.

He was filled with sweat and there was a minor scratch on his forehead that was bleeding when she smirked.

"Oh lord, did you get injured again?" with her face filled with worry instantly, she ran to the child and touched his forehead as if she was the one suffering.

"Go and bring the first aid this instant. Can you not see that the lord is bleeding?" she barked toward the maid who ran with fear and then she looked at Rowan with worry.

"You should pay more attention to yourself, my lord." Rowan tilted his head as he looked at Greta without showing any emotion on his face. No one knew what he was thinking.

"This is just a minor scratch, you should not be worried." he said in a soft voice when the woman sighed.

"I know it is a minor scratch but what if it left a scar or mark? You are the duke, you can not disgrace your family with scars. It is better to treat your face better." she asked in a stern voice as she cleaned the wound and then applied some ointment and bandaged it when Ana finally entered the room.

The first thing she saw was injured Rowan and her eyes widened.

"Oh, Rowan. What happened to your face?" she asked in a worried voice as she hurried her steps towards him and held his chin.

She scanned the wound with worried eyes and took the bandage from Greta.

"It is just a minor scratch. I am sure that it would not leave any scars on my face." he assured Ana who blinked and then looked at him as if she was confused.

"Rowan, I am worried that you are in pain not because the wound may leave a scar. What does it matter anyway? What matters is that you will suffer with pain. So you should pay more attention to yourself. You are still a child, I do not understand why you need to fight with an iron sword instead of a wooden one. From now on, you are not going to practice swords anymore until you are better and you will rest more. I will accompany you and make sure that you do not get yourself injured again."

"......."