"Do you understand?" I said
"Yes." Evelina responded
" Yes, who?" I asked, I was taking my time with her and this time, I would personally discipline her because if I didn't do it now, it would probably give me trouble later and I just want to live peacefully.
" Yes, duchess." She said once again, and this caught me by surprise, I did not expect her to call me duchess. Even milady was just fine, but I couldn't show any weakness, so I let it be.
" Good, call me when Jack goes to sleep, for now I will stay in my room." I commanded, and she bowed and left the room. But I knew that she was not happy at all and she would probably find trouble for me later on because Ryan trusted her so much in my previous life, that even if she crossed some boundaries, she wasn't really punished for them and I did not really care much since I also knew that Ryan didn't love me and didn't want the marriage.
A little while later, Evelina called and informed me that Jack was about to sleep as per my request. I left my room and made a beeline line to Jack's room.
(knock, knock, knock) I knocked softly on the door, and I heard a sleepy " enter"
I opened the door slowly and peeked in the room. It was just like I remembered it, his bed was central, the walls were painted with beige and gold, the windows were on the far end of the room for his safety and it was neatly arranged with everything in its place from his toys, books etc.
" Jay Jay, are you asleep?" I asked softly
" Nooo." he said as he dragged the word in his sleepy voice
" Would you like me to read you a bedtime story?"
" Yes, plewse." he responded. The thing with Jay Jay was that he would get some words wrong as he got to be more and more tired. And since thus was already the case, it meant that everything that had happened exhausted his little body.
" Okay, shall I read the story of the young prince lost in the woods?" I asked. I knew that this story was his favorite in my previous life, so I picked it first.
he nodded his head and said, " My favowite"
"Alright." I sat on the chair next to him.
" Once upon a time...."
I didn't even get to page 3 of the story. He fell asleep very quickly, and I felt bad for him because it meant he was really tired. I tucked him in and tiptoed away from his bed.
I was about to leave his room when I saw the stars in the sky through his window. His window had a great view of the sky, so I got closer to the window to get a better view.
The view was mesmerizing. The little stars were shining brightly with a full moon right at the center of them. Not only was the sky in view, but i could see the Duke's kingdom from there. All the houses, big or small, were brightly lit, and the market was still buzzing, but I could only hear their cheerful voices.
I was so lost in my appreciation of the view that I didn't even notice that someone else had entered the room. I felt a cold metal on my neck with a sharp edge, and given how close the person was to me, he was probably holding a dagger against my neck.
" Who are you, and what are you doing in my son's room?" a voice spoke