*PREVIOUS CHAPTER*
The duke also sent a gift because it was my first tea party. He gifted me a horse.... I also had to learn horse riding now.... I felt like crying, I had to give up my time for reading novels.....
***
The duke was waiting for me with the horse he gifted me, he was going to personally teach me how to ride a horse. I was quite nervous since I fell off a horse as a child during a funfair.... It became a trauma for me but I think I'm over it now.
I had my sword with me, just in case I would need it. The mountains were a popular place for bad people, like robbers and thieves.
The duke helped me on the horse before sitting right behind me. I could feel his warmth and his breath, it was very calm unlike mine. I was sweating out of nervousness.
We were heading towards the mountains behind the Florys Estate, it was the perfect place to chill and get rest. The mountain was owned by the duke. You could find gems in the caves, so the duke only let you enter if you were a good friend or got permission.
While on the horse's back, the wind was breezing lightly. My hair tie snapped and my hair flowed in the air. The duke's breathing became heavier. I quickly turned around and saw him looking away, he was as red as a tomato...
We finally arrived at a cave. We dismounted the horse and walked in, it was really big and it shined bright. The gems reflected the sunlight back so there were no plants that could grow here. There were mining supplies on the ground.
The duke popped a gem off the wall and looked at it, he threw it away. My mouth fell open, I looked like a ghost. 'How could he throw such a precious gem on the ground?' I sighed, there must've been something wrong with it.
"It was a fake one, the miners do that to trick thieves and robbers" I sighed in relief, the duke just stared at me with a questionable face.
As we walked deeper in the cave, a hole in the cave appeared. The sunlight fell on the ground, there were plants. The duke plucked a blue primrose and put it in my hair. I could feel my face burning up and my cheeks getting red.
"You are funny to tease, my wife" The duke smiled. I looked away and ignored him. 'He must've been a playboy!' I thought to myself. A weird sound was heard, we both looked behind us. There were people. The duke and I both thought the same: 'They're going to rob gems'. The duke quickly grabbed my arm and pulled to towards a big rock. I fell into his arms, I couldn't get up and gave up.
"Boss, it took as long enough to come to the Florys Caves! Have you brought the gem detector?" It was a deep voice, probably a man's.
"What do you think fat-head? I'm not like your brother who got arrested!" This time it was a woman, she sounded fierce and had a high pitched voice. I heard laughter, it sounded like they weren't with only two of them.
"You three, go deeper in the cave and find that Juplicore for that marquis. We also need that red one, Yervil for that wife" It was that woman again. My mouth fell wide open. There was only one marquis house in this country, it was the Luvenis. The duke's face didn't change.
We heard people heading our way, we had to hold our breath in because of how close they were. I could see two men and a woman, they had a glowing thing in their hands. 'It should be the gem detector'.
The detector started beeping slowly, it became stronger when they were standing just a few steps away from us. I quickly looked our swords, they both had gems in it. 'It should be reacting to our swords!'. The duke looked at me and nodded, he understood what I meant. We quietly drew our swords a little bit out. We saw a head turning our way.
"BOSS THERE ARE-" The duke pointed his sword at his throat, it looked like an ancient action movie. The woman shut up and put her hands up. She opened her mouth and quietly said: "Please don't kill me, battlefield demon...". I swallowed, her friends were heading our way.
I drew my sword out and positioned myself. I also had to do this carefully, we can't kill anyone. I tightly held my sword, waiting for them to come.
"Boss, we got two people here!" A man saw us. The duke looked at me and gave me a nod, he signaled me to handle the coming people.
'1.....2....3'
I jumped from behind the rock and stared the boss in his eyes. He looked a bit like a noble, he's most likely to have lost his title.