Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Well, I am going to town tomorrow for buy a new dress for the party. I did not know if a girl hid herself in the maid's carriage and ran away when we reached the town." Evangeline's eyes twinkled as she grasped Evelyn's point. she moved forward and hugged Evelyn, who stiffened in her arms.

"Then, I will get going, I will see you tomorrow." she said in a stiff tone and ran away with a red face, which was too cute for Evangeline who chuckled when she saw Evelyn who ran like ghosts were chasing her.

Finally getting what she needed, a plan, she closed her eyes with relief and drifted to sleep.

"My lady, did you have a nice sleep?" asked the maid when I opened my eyes and yawned. She looked at me with surprise and ran to me.

"My lady, nobles did not yawn like that!" She scolded me and I blinked.

"Why? Aren't they humans?'' I asked in a nonchalant way and stretched my body to relax my stiff muscles.

"Haw, my lady! Nobles did not stretch like that either!" she pointed again as she tried to improve my posture by holding my hands.

"Will you stop it? I am not a noble to care about all these things.`` This was the first time that I snapped like that! I did not want to but I could not help it. How they all were trying to make me something that I was not! Was being a commoner so bad?

No! It was just the opposite! Being noble was bad! They could not talk, sit and walk. Damn! They could not even yawn or stretch!

"My lady, in a few days, you will be married to lord Leonardo. Then you will be the mistress of the house. So, you need to learn the etiquettes. In fact, lady Elizabeth will start taking your class after breakfast." said the girl in a stricter tone this time.

"From today?" Evangeline was petrified with the turn of events. She had to hide in the carriage and run away from this place after breakfast. If they kept her busy or under surveillance, there was no way that she would be able to do that!

'Could it be that Elizabeth knew about her plan. Evelyn did not blabber it out, right?' no she shook her head as she was sure if this would have been the case, Elizabeth would have come to her and set her right.

She was like a rigid mistress who is bound with discipline all the time.

"Yes, only two days are left for the master to return, his highness wants to make sure that you are prepared before that." 'prepared for what. She could not help but imagine herself as the goat who was fed and readied for the butcher to arrive and sacrifice her.

"Lady Elizabeth is a great teacher, you know, she is a renowned person when it comes to social gathering and even the crown prince is trying to pursue her." no matter if they are commoners or nobles, they all like to gossip.

Like Serina, maybe for convincing me or showing me who the real authority is, she was gossiping about Elizabeth freely.

"You know my lady, lady Elizabeth is pursued by many but she did not say yes to anyone. Her highness was sick from the past few years, so lady Elizabeth devoted all her time in managing the dukedom. She is proficient in all the work of the duchess. If you will learn well from her, you will not face any problem in managing the estate after she gets married.`` Her face has that admiring look and Evangeline could not help but wonder why she was so infatuated with the nobles that could not even marry the one they love and bound to responsibilities.

Wasn't being a commoner was better as you are free to live a simple life.

She stood up as she knew there was no benefit in negotiation with Serena as she was just the messenger. She had to convince Elizabeth to postpone her training for the night.

After taking a bath she was once again decorated with an expensive dress and fine jewels. If she could sell these jewels, she would be able to settle far away for a while and could return to sell her properties once the matter is old.

With that thought she urged Serina to wear an extra ring and bracelet in the name of looking beautiful.

"Morning, Evangeline. I hope you had a good sleep." with William with a smile and she returned the smile with a slight bow.

"Good morning, your highness. I hope you had a peaceful night too.'' Her words and formal greeting surprised everyone as she was behaving like a country bumpkin only last night.

"Yes, yes! I had a comfortable sleep. Come sit and have your breakfast. You are going to have a busy day today." replied the man with a bright smile and enthusiastic face. She could not help but feel guilty towards him as he was trying to make her comfortable from the time she had entered the palace. He was a kind person, but she did not want to be the receiver of his kindness. And he was not ready to understand that.

"Lady Elizabeth, Lady Evelyn." she greeted, trying to distract herself from the guilty thoughts.

They both nodded to her but kept their silence and continued to have dinner.

Evangeline took the same seat as last night and looked at the table with awe.

There were muffins, pancakes, cupcakes, sunny side up eggs, yogurt, fruits, bread loaf, jam, sausages and a few things she did not even know about. This was a whole lot different from the oatmeal and soup she was habitual to have.

With enthusiasm, she started to have her meal that she forgot that she had to discuss about her class too. She only stopped eating when her stomach was in a condition to burst out and rubbed her tummy with content when she heard.

"If you are done, let us start the class now."