Suddenly everything started to go blur before Noah's eyes.
"What is happening?" he thought to himself.
He suddenly got up and went out of the shop. And then snapped back to reality.
"What is happening to me suddenly? Just a moment ago I was inside and now I am suddenly outside?" he said as he massaged his forehead which was aching.
"But those ladies were saying something about the ball at the Brooks. And something tells me I must go tonight." Saying this he headed straight towards the royal castle with a rented carriage.
The guards at the gate opened the royal gates when they saw Duke Noah Gilbert in the carriage.
It wasn't that late, and no one knew that the duke returned from his vacation, thus the ministers and noblemen in the morning assembly felt a chill in their spine seeing duke return from his vacation early.
He entered the assembly hall, and there was a sudden wave of silence.
"I forgot what was today's day. Did I sleep through a couple of days?" whispered one noble man to the man beside him.
"No, he himself returned early. Maybe he wants to attend the ball tonight." Whispered another man snickering.
Noah heard all the whispers clearly but decided to actively ignore them.
"May God bless the father of the kingdom, and may you have a long and healthy life, your majesty." Said Noah as he bowed in front of the king who sat on the throne.
"Very well duke Gilbert. Please take a seat. Would you love to tell me the reason why you returned early?" Asked king Fredrik with a snicker.
"I certainly won't love to do that." Noah gave a cold response to the king as he settled down.
There was again a sudden wave of silence and awkwardness.
"Oh! I see, I thought you yourself got bored there by yourself. I should've given Wendy permission to come there with you and for you, it's just that I didn't want to disturb your vacation time with your wife." King Fredrick continued to taunt Noah.
"Right, he doesn't know that she was sent back early and also got poisoned." Noah silently thought to himself as the king was speaking.
"Well your majesty that was one of your wisest decisions, you've ever taken. Thank you for your understanding." Said Noah as he stood up and made a light bow with the most sincere expression.
"I remember that something happened, and the duke got caught up in a controversy with this woman known as Wendy Brooks. She is related to the current queen and thus to the royal family. I can't make out a lot with these fussy memories but one thing is for sure that, the royal family is definitely afraid of the Gilbert Duchy." He thought with a snicker.
"I must stay wary of the king. But most of all, I should stay wary of that bastard the Crown Prince. I also heard that he was ex-fiance of duchess Janice before she married the duke." He said glancing towards Kyte Welham.
The morning assembly got over without much of the hurdles except for Noah's cold and seemingly rude responses to the king.
"Then I'll take my leave, your majesty." Said Noah as he got up and bowed.
"Hey wait up." Called a voice from behind as he was leaving.
He turned back.
"I don't see your right-hand man with you today?" said Prince Kyte casually as he walked towards Noah.
"I don't think he that charming that you want to see him every day Prince?" said Noah with an irritated tome.
"No, no he isn't. On the contrary, the one whom I want to see is hidden deep inside your mansion. I wish she comes tonight. I'll be looking forward Duke." Said Kyte with a beaming smile.
"What's up with this bastard? The current Duchess isn't Janice Tyler she is Janice Green, you idiot." He thought. " But why am I getting so angry at this? Who likes her and who doesn't is none of my business." He came to a supposedly rational conclusion.
"Sure. I'll be looking forward to it too." He replied with a smile and took his leave.
"The next destination is the ducal mansion. I have to see Janice."
He took borrowed a royal carriage and started for the mansion. The mansion wasn't that long from the royal castle itself. He reached there sooner than he thought.
The guards opened the doors and he entered in. " This seems to be a well-maintained place." He thought to himself as he handed his coat to a maid.
The maids got cheerful and happy as they saw the duke returned to the mansion. Although Noah came back ahead of time on a whim, the true reason he returned was to see the situation of the poisoned duchess. A maid ran to a room quickly with excitement.
"Let's follow her, she will go to the duchess' room." He thought and distantly followed the maid.
He started calculating the time to come to a conclusion exactly which Janice was poisoned as he walked towards the upper floor.
"I don't know when Janice came to this world and thus I don't know which duchess was exactly poisoned. If it so happens that Janice green was poisoned, I won't be able to find my answers and can't get my revenge. I have to stay precise." He went on thinking.
And suddenly heard loud words coming from a room.
The door was partially open and the maid was standing just a little ahead inside.
He thought the wisest move would be to stand out and see how the duchess's behavior to a rude maid.
He stood behind the partially open door to observe. "Why is the maid kneeling down?" he thought.
And suddenly he saw that the kneeling maid notice him.
"You should've told me that the duke came, even before he came and stood behind that door." Said the duchess with a snicker on her face and terror reflecting her eyes.
"She noticed me too. Such sharp instincts." Noah thought and calmly opened the door.
Janice was already in the position to slap the maid.
"I see you haven't changed much Janice, even before and even now." He said with a cold tone
He glanced at the maid sitting down. Her eyes were lightened up with hope.
"Her gaze? It can be misunderstood. Let's see what the duchess does." He calmly went and sat on the couch. It seemed that both Janice and Mary were waiting for a reaction, but he just poured himself tea and sat there sipping it.
"You should've known your place as a servant and now you deserve a punishment from me." Saying this, the duchess gave a hard tight slap to the maid.
"The body language, the way of speaking, it means that Janice Green reached here safely. The old duchess was poisoned, and thus it might've become easy for Janice to possess that body." He thought as the whole scene was going in front of his eyes.
"If the duchess was poisoned and the duke was harmed, who would've been who would benefit from it first?" he thought.
"The brooks family and the Brooks county." He had a sudden shine in his eyes.
He wasn't a slight bit interested in the drama going on in front of him. "She'll get fired." He had a slight smile.
"You are fired." The duchess said with a beaming smile.
"She sure is Janice Green, I can confirm it." He thought.
"So what's your business with me duke." Said Janice as she settled down in front of him
"Your revenge target is in front of you. You have to take a step forward." Again whispered that voice in Noah's ears.
"So, let the games begin." He had the fire of revenge and the curiosity for answers in his eyes.