Ginny of course couldn't run away, this was her one and only chance to save her father and she couldn't lose it. So, even though her mind was willing her to get the f*ck out of the Terranova palace, she still hardened her heart and agreed with the terms and took the six months contract from Greta to sign.
Six months, she had six months to gain the trust of the Duke and steal those books from his library she couldn't mess it up!
With that thought in mind, she clenched her fingers around the feather quill making her scribbles a lot more harsher than usual. Her eyes twitched a little when she noticed the harsh smudges on the contract and shook her head, she had to do better than this, if her emotions were so out of place then she will be caught in just one day.
Ginny handed the contract to Greta who took it with a complicated expression and stamped it with the Terranova seal before handing the second copy to her. Ginny could sense that she wanted to say something so she didn't leave at once and waited for Greta to speak up. " I don't know what happened between you and the duke but I do hope that you will remember to keep a close check on your attitude towards him from now," then she paused as she lowered her voice as if she were afraid of being heard.
" And I will advise you to keep a good distance from him and don't take me wrong, I am saying this because I look down on you … I am a fallen noble like you, I don't have much qualifications to look down at you. I am saying this because I am worried that you will fall deeper than you intend to, and once that happens —— there will be no way out for you."
Ginny wanted to tell Greta that she was thinking too much, there was no way she would fall for that arrogant jerk but she still nodded her head, too lazy to write anything.
" And one more thing," just as she turned around to leave, Greta stopped her again. " while you are here, try not to come in front of Madam Regina."
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" She said that?" Leilani asked as she brewed a concoction to ease Count Harlow's pain. " I didn't think that she would say something like that to you, I have seen Madam Regina and she looked pretty normal to me."
" Normal?" mused Ginny as she chopped the onions she has brought while returning to her house. " No one in that house is normal, except Greta or maybe the Duke's aide —— Keith but given that he is the aide of the Duke, I fear that he might not be as sane as he makes himself look."
" Says the one who can chop onions without shedding a tear, f*cking psychopath "muttered Leilani as she took a whiff of the concoction and shook her head. " three more stirs."
Ginny stabbed the knife on the wooden block that she used as a vegetable chopping board and glared at Leilani. "It is because of you that I have to spend my precious time with those psychopaths. You stayed at the palace for so long why didn't you take a look at the books, if you are so smart?"
" I was indeed curious," replied Leilani. " Not that I would have used it but the Crown prince never let me take a look at the books in the restricted section. He said that the section held a lot of secrets of the Royal family and I shouldn't be looking at them."
"And here you are asking me to do what you couldn't?" snapped Ginny as she poured the onions into a bowl, tonight she was thinking of preparing some onion soup and bread. There was nothing she could do, the magical rice that she bought for her father took a huge chunk out of her salary and now she could no longer afford meat. " What makes you think that the duke will allow me to steal those books when the crown prince didn't even let you take a look?"
" Because the duke doesn't give a sh*t about the Royal family," said Leilani with an eye roll as she placed a sieve on a bowl and poured the potion into it. " I bet the restriction section in his library will be without a care, and that's not important… what's important is that why do you have a summoning spell inscribed on your skin?"
She pointed at the embroidered curves and inscriptions that were etched on Ginny's neck. " You look like a dog who has been put on a leash by its master."
Ginny glared at her and then threw the knife in her hand at Leilani who transfigured the flying knife into a canary with a snap of her fingers and Ginny watched in awe as the canary flew out of the window. Only then did she snap out of her daze and shouted at Leilani, " That was a new knife! Now I have to buy a new one because of you!"
" You should have known better than to throw a knife at a witch then," shot back Leilani fluidly as she placed the potion next to the window to cool it down. " Anyway, I wasn't trying to insult you."
" You called me a dog on a leash."
"It's not my fault that you have a summoning spell cast around your neck," said Leilani with an eye roll. " By the way why do you have it?"
Ginny pursed her lips before she answered, " The Duke does not have a maid at the moment, so he placed the spell on the contract. Once I signed it, it appeared around my neck."
She didn't expect that when he wrote the clause 'available 24/7', he literally meant it.
" So basically, if he summons for you …you will vanish into thin air?" asked Leilani
" Yes——" Ginny has barely answered when a white light engulfed her and she found herself standing in the middle of the Duke's study.
She took one look around and cursed —— Damn!