"Your grace! What happened to the lady?"
Sandra who was waiting by the entrance of the mansion ran quickly to her master. Her voice was filled with worry, thinking that the lady she serves had been injured. But as soon as she reached his side, the smell of alcohol penetrated her nostrils.
"Drunk?" She unintentionally voiced out her thoughts.
The Grand Duke nodded and asked the old woman who came rushing to welcome him, "Has the room I told you to clean ready?"
"Yes, your grace." The woman answered.
The Grand Duke turned to Sandra and asked her to follow. They went inside the mansion. Some servants cleaning the wide hall stopped at their tracks and bowed towards their master, they then wondered who was the person in their master's arms.
But no one dared to whisper or murmur about their thoughts.
It is precisely that the image of the Grand Duke in the capital is not entirely good in the eyes of the nobility. To commoners, Grand Duke Adri is someone considered a hero; because of his achievements in battles with monsters and benevolence towards his territory.
But to nobility, he was seen as a war-hungry fiend who preferred bloody monster subjugation to social banquets. But even with that reputation in the higher-class society, many noblewomen still send their proposals and show their intention to be his Grand Duchess.
Whether it was because of the title or genuine affection, no one was still able to seize that position.
And by the slim figure and the long black hair of the person the Grand Duke is carrying, everyone can tell it is a woman. So, they were all thinking, 'Who is the lucky girl who caught their master's attention?'
Reaching the room intended for her lady, Sandra immediately opened the door. The Grand Duke gently laid down her drunk lady in the bed and quickly stepped away. She flinched when she heard her master let out an exasperated sigh and covered his entire face.
Then, without looking at her, he walked away and ordered.
"Wash her."
"Yes, my lord." She replied before the Grand Duke exited the room.
Moving beside Mona, she could now see her flushed face and messy appearance. She couldn't help but laugh lightly and wondered how the lady got drunk in broad daylight. She began undressing her and cleaning her body.
After her task, she put her sword on the side of the bed and left the room, unaware of the slight movement of the sleeping lady who appeared to be stirring from her sleep.
When Mona opened her eyes, her surroundings didn't sway anymore. She blinked her eyes a few times and slowly got up. Glancing around the room, she noticed the unfamiliar place she was in.
Thinking she was kidnapped; she immediately grabbed her sword and unsheathed it. Pointing towards the innocent door while mumbling incoherent words only she could understand. When the door did not burst open after a few minutes, she shifted her sword to the balcony's door instead.
She heightened her senses when she felt movement outside, and slowly approached the closed glass door. She carefully unlocked it and peeked outside with just her head, but got dismayed that only the rustling of the leaves from the nearby trees was the only thing she could hear.
She slowly and quietly stepped out her left foot, like someone checking the floor for hidden levers or buttons that can activate a dangerous trap. When nothing happened, she casually followed her right one. But then the floor moved and she screamed.
"I knew it!" She pointed her sword at the floor and shouted again, "Come out, you evil! I must purify you to the best of my ability!"
A loud noise came from the inside of her room, but her focus was on the moving floor trying to pull a trick on her. Before she was completely defeated by the unknown enemy, she quickly knelt and stabbed her sword on the floor.
But before she could release a destructive aura for her final attack, someone already grabbed her up and threw the sword away from her. She turned towards the person and saw a man with the most chilling expression on his face.
His ocean-colored eyes emanated danger and coldness, yet it was blazing, somehow.
Mona gulped at the appearance of a fearsome enemy. She struggled in his embrace but the man lifted her casually and threw her onto the bed.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The man shouted, caught her arms, and pinned them at her side. "Are you trying to hurt yourself?!"
The man's angered eyes pricked something within her and she shouted back, "Of course not! I was trying to kill the enemy!"
"Enemy? Where?"
"Outside!"
The man stood up and quickly scanned the balcony. His forehead creased when he can't sense any killing intent. Moreover, an enemy couldn't enter the Adri Mansion without being detected.
He looked back at Mona and asked again, "Where is the enemy?"
She pointed to the part where the man was standing and answered, "Below. It was moving. It's a trap!"
The man showed a confused face and looked down. Next to his feet was the floor where the sword was earlier. Nothing more.
But after a minute of silence, his brow twitched upon realizing her actions. He gave her a dumbfounded look before entering the room and closing the balcony door again.
"Did you catch it?"
Kyden wanted to slap his face for his stupidity.
But part of him wanted to laugh out loud at the woman in front of her, who was innocently and obediently waiting for his answer. Her hair was all over her; her nightdress was a bit disorderly; and her bed was a mess.
He quickly brought his hand on his face to hide his emerging smile. And when he noticed her anticipating look again, he cleared his throat and replied.
"It got away."
"Then, we must quickly catch it." Mona jumped off the bed again and tried to run to the door, but Kyden was quicker to catch her and pinned her on the bed again. "What are you doing? We must catch the enemy!"
"I caught her already." He responded, locking the woman in his arms. "Now, go to sleep."
"But-
"Sleep or I'll toss you on the enemy. The enemy is something sinister. It will rock you until you fall, then it will open its mouth and devour you. Choose." Kyden said and grabbed her waist, acting like he was ready to throw her if she didn't choose to sleep.
"Ah! I will sleep! I will sleep!" She yelled and grabbed hold of the man's robes, which made Kyden flinched.
"Yes. Sleep."
"You won't throw me?"
"I won't. I promise."
She snuggled closer at the ferocious man who looked familiar to her, somehow. She even felt strangely comfortable in his embrace, so even before the enemy came back, she finally fell into slumber.
While the drunk lady was finally asleep, Kyden was frozen beside her.
No, in fact, frozen beneath her. Mona has almost climbed above him and slept peacefully while snoring. And he was glad that the woman was unconscious, or else, his drumming heart would have been noticed due to its incessant loud beating.
When he heard a noise coming from her room, he immediately ran to her. When he saw her holding the sword stuck on the floor and bowed, fear enveloped him again. His emotions flared even after seeing that she wasn't injured.
Seeing her in that pose brought an image in his mind like someone who had died on the battleground with his sword stuck on the ground. It clouded his mind and made him act rudely towards the lady.
Though his fear is valid, he shouldn't have swept her and thrown her on the bed like that.
He gazed at her sleeping face and murmured, "I am sorry, my love."
He caressed her hair and pulled the blanket up to cover them both. Since he was already there, he might as well sleep there. And before closing his eyes, he swore not to let Mona drink liquor again. Never again.
Her drunk habits are too dangerous. Though he wondered if she would remember herself battling the floor once she woke.
He finally closed his eyes and whispered a sweet goodnight in her ears, even though it was still late at noon. But as the day began to set and gradually become the night, Kyden was still lying wide-eyed.