War Or Peace?

Abi paused and looked at him with confusion when she noticed disgust on his face and her body went cold.

She knew this look too well. She had seen it on the face of those gooders when they had come to their town. 

"What? Could you not see me eating after asking me to eat so many times?" she spat the words with a cold look on her face when he paused.

"I asked you to eat, not behave like you have grown up in a hovel." he retorted when she laughed and then she wiped her mouth with her sleeves.

The expensive luxurious sleeves of the lavender gown made his eyes widen.

"But my lord, I grew up in a hovel. Did you not see it?" Her mocking response was completely different from her condition and he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from escalating the argument.

He looked away when he heard her snicker and gritted his teeth.

"You need to learn to eat." with that he threw the handkerchief on the table and stood up. "We will leave once you finish eating. Inform the maids about it and they will guide you to the carriage." he left without looking back at her as if just her sight would make him puke.

Abi clicked her tongue. This man claims that he wants to marry her. Ha! What value did she hold that he was interested in her? There was something that her mother knew but she did not. But this fancy duke knew about it and that was why he was bearing her. And going as far as marrying her. 

But since he had left, she would concentrate more on eating. The staff was surprised that the woman did not follow their master at once but resumed eating. And IN THE SAME WAY She only stopped when the table was completely empty. She looked at the empty plates with a look of emptiness and sighed.

Then she dared to pick the handkerchief Dion had thrown on the table to wipe her hands, mouth, and then her sleeves hoping that the dried gravy would come out.

Then she stood up, and picked up the rest of the fruits from the basket table. A maid could bear no more when she was about to tie those fruits in that silk dress. And passed a small paper bag to her.

"Thank you." She looked so touched by the small gesture that the maid felt dumbfounded. She could not tell him that she was only trying to save the dress from further damage. Lady Isabella would be furious. No fury would be too little to describe that woman.

"Are you done, my lady? Shall we guide you to the carriage?" their master would be brooding there. Even Lady Isabella had never made the master wait.

Abi nodded once she was sure that she had everything she needed. She followed the servants and they took her to the best garden she had ever seen. It was wafting the best fragrance that ever into her nostrils. Even the flower shop near the abbey did not smell like that and held the most bright and fresh flowers.

She watched with awe as they crossed and stopped in front of a fancy carriage. As Abi walked in, the man had already changed into a black dress. The carriage started the moment she ended and she had to hold the door to maintain her balance and sit hurriedly afraid that she would fall.

"We are going to fit your dress. From there, we will directly leave for the funeral. Is there anything else you need?" he did not look at her but his eyes were on a paper he was holding.

She eyed the paper but it was too far for her to read it. So, she looked out of the window.

"No, thank you." a mocking voice left his lips but she did not dwell on it. The silence felt sickening. If he did not want her, he could tell her. She did not go to him. Well she did, but he had accepted her begging out of his will. It was not like she had blackmailed him and neither his goodwill was free.

He wanted something from her or he would not have been bearing her. The file snapped in his hands and he shut it with force to gain her attention again. This time he was looking at her but at the same time, he looked lost as if he was looking at someone else in her.

"The resemblance is uncanny. But you are not like them at all. Your father would have died of hunger or thirst but would have never served himself a meal. But you… you ate like a pig." she would have felt offended by the word pig if not for the mention of her father. 

"Ha! Have you ever seen my father eating?" she rolled her eyes, "he would even crawl on the ground if you offered him a glass of beer for free." he even went to sell his daughter for those glasses of alcohol. At least, she was much better than him.

The mention of her father reminded her of many wounds she still held on her body and her body ached. As if he noticed the chance, he sighed and his expressions softened a bit.

"Do we need to go to a physician? I had asked the maids to apply ointment but I did not know how effective it was." her rage melted at his concern and she closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. She was so jittery because she had lost her only family and now she was with a stranger at a strange pace without knowing what she was going to lose.

All this was too much for her to bear.

"No, I have faced worse." she spoke with such honesty that it made him freeze. "What do you want from me, my lord?"