Bab 22: 'A shame to your name and to my House'
"Duchess? What are you doing here?" Esdras asked, his hand still around her wrist.
"I'm… I-I thought I saw someone I knew. But I guess I was… mistaken." She reasoned as she tried to free herself, but the more she tugged her hand away, the tighter the knight closed his fist.
"You should be more aware of your surroundings, duchess. There are a lot of unfamiliar faces here; you should be on your guard at all times."
"I can protect myself. Now unhand me." Amelia pulled her hand closer but was only hurt when Esdras did the same to her. Earlier, she ordered the knight to keep a distance from them so they could roam around freely. "I don't want to cause a scene, so unhand me right now, or I will have your head on the ground for hurting a duchess!"
"You can't even get away from me early this morning," his breathy voice sent shivers throughout the duchess' body, and tiny beads of sweat started to trickle at the side of her face. The fake hair started to feel uncomfortable too. The alleyway's dark because the tall buildings blocked the sun, and since they're almost halfway through unless someone deliberately looked, no one would suspect that they're there.
"Are you with the people who tried to poison me?" Amelia glared at the man. "You were so far from us; how could you possibly know where I was in this get-up and with so many people around? You were once a slave. It wouldn't be a surprise if you knew that stableboy who tried to kill me." She whispered through gritted teeth which hurts her gums. To keep herself from crying, she clenched her fist so hard, her nails dug into her palm.
"Oh, I could recognize you from a mile away, my duchess…."
Amelia blinked fast. Did she hear him right? Did he just call her 'my duchess'?
The man's brows relaxed, and his grip loosened. But stunned at how things went from him looking like he'd devour the duchess at any second to looking like he was holding for his dear life, Amelia stood there staring at his deep-seated green eyes.
Aside from the humming of the distant crowd, there was only silence between the two. Amelia's heart pounded against her chest as if looking for its way out as she noted the man's chest rose and fell faster than it did earlier. Beads of sweat trickled on both their faces, but the thing that surprised the duchess most were the slightly parted full lips of her advisor's knight and his eyes that went up and down from her eyes to her lips.
Amelia swallowed air. She felt dizzy from the heat and her own thoughts.
What was he thinking?
What was she thinking?
She didn't know.
"What are you doing?!" the commanding voice of the companion she left at one of the stores felt like the first ray of sunshine in a week-long of non-stop rain. "I am asking, what are you doing to the duchess?" Sybil barged in like a raging bull trying to control herself from trampling the other person.
As soon as she came closer, she grabbed Esdras by the wrist and yanked his hand away from Amelia. Still surprised at what transcended between them, the duchess aimlessly followed Sybil out of the alley and into the blinding radiance of the town square.
"Are you okay? What happened? How dare he lay a hand on you? How ungrateful! I hate myself for liking such a prick."
**********
Amelia flinched every time Sybil's light fingers touched the small cut caused by her fingernails with a salve. She sat there listening to the lady's non-stop nagging about what she witnessed. She also asked the duchess what she would do next. Obviously, what happened wasn't something to ignore. He's Vance's knight. Of all people, she should feel the safest with him around, but it was just the opposite.
And what did he call her again? My duchess? Why would he call her that? Though looking at it, he serves under House Florence, so technically, he has the right to call Amelia his duchess. But aside from Alexander, no one has ever called her that.
"Lex!" as if waking up from a dream, Sybil flinched when Amelia suddenly pulled her hand away, causing the wooden jar of salve to hit the floor. "Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry."
"No, it's okay. It's your first time out, and this is what happened." Sybil sighed, closing the jar and placing it back on the shelf near her table. "And who's Lex?" Amelia didn't answer.
The heir to the Beauchant company brought Amelia to her own salon to rest. She requested her attendants to prepare a light lunch for them. As punishment, having regained her former control, the duchess ordered Esdras to wait outside, and he's not to have food until he realized what he did wrong. Remembering what Duke Clement told her about seeking her own justice, Amelia's determined to tell her advisor what happened and have him punish the knight for being disrespectful.
"What happened back there? For a second, I was so scared when I saw it. I thought he's out there to kill you. I mean, he's got the eyes of a predator to his prey. I was stunned for a while, I thought I should scream, but then a scandal involving the duchess is the least we want. You should really have closer security that you trust—not who other trusts."
"I thought I saw someone I haven't seen in a while and followed him. Though I lost him in the crowd, and before I knew it, I was going in the alleyway thinking he'd gone there."
"And Esdras followed you?" Amelia nodded in response.
Sybil couldn't help but roll her eyes and shake her head. She massaged her temples lightly and was thankful when the food finally arrived. All the worrying had made the heir famished.
Both ladies thanked the attendants and heartily received the food. Amelia would've thought twice about eating a meal someone prepared, but she didn't want to be rude to her attentive host. Also, her poison immunity improved a lot since the last time, so she could probably handle it for a lot longer if ever the food's been poisoned again.
Lunch was steamed chicken rubbed with herbed salt and a variety of steamed vegetables drizzled with a light cream; salad greens, spices-infused grains, and fruit juice. After the meal, Sybil let Amelia rest for a bit and excused herself to open her salon and start welcoming some early patrons.
Alone by herself, the duchess gathered her petticoat and laid down on the long settee, her feet elevated on its arm. She wanted to take off the fake hair, but it would be troublesome to put it back with the clips and pins.
When she thought that her companion would be gone a little longer, the door sounded, and Sybil informed her that she was coming in. Amelia quickly sat down and fixed her skirt before she permitted entrance.
"I'd like for you to stay a little longer and see my salon, but I think it's best that you return early and sort things with your knight. I am not comfortable about him around you."
Sybil was right. This was no time for Amelia to be relaxing. She could enjoy herself later when she felt safer. But when would that be? It's not like someone trustworthy would appear in front of her whenever she needed one.
The duchess inhaled sharply and showed an apologetic smile. The Beauchant heir held her hand and patted the top of it.
"It's okay. It's not like you're only allowed today."
"Thank you, Sybil. And I'm sorry." Sybil flashed a charming smile that made the duchess unconsciously smile too.
Looking at the clock on Sybil's table, it's already an hour and a half after noon. The duchess grabbed her purse and fixed her hair and her blouse and skirt.
The way down was a winding stair that led to the side gate near the garden in the property. From there, the duchess could see the inside with several ladies both young and aged in their glamorous dresses and bright pieces of jewelry; tea and pastries were served.
Amelia noted Esdras waiting by the carriage with his eyes straight ahead at the side of her eyes. Sybil didn't also waste the opportunity to scorn the knight as she was the last one to enter.
**********
The way home took over an hour of mostly sighs and sharp inhales and exhales. Amelia looked at the changing scenery as the whole scenario in the alleyway played in her mind. And the more that she thought about it, the more the seething feeling in the depths of her grew. Sure, it must've been wrong of her to walk into unfamiliar territory by herself, but it was even more wrong of him to act as if he's someone Amelia—a duchess—needed to answer to.
Holding the wrist Esdras grabbed earlier, the duchess wondered why he pulled her closer. Why did he look at her with eyes full of passion? What emotion does he have towards her? Amelia shook her head, though she might be wrong; she thought that maybe Esdras has feelings for her.
But that's preposterous, right?
There's no way, right?
Amelia took another sharp breath in and darted her eyes at the visible palace gates at a distance. She undid her hands, and her mind wandered—lost. She didn't know what to think of or how to think about it.
As the gates opened, the carriage went through well-maintained topiaries and around the massive fountain at the center of the expansive courtyard. Then in front of the palace entrance.
As no one knew what time the duchess would be back, there were only the knights guarding the entrance that greeted her.
After saying her thanks and farewell to her newfound friend, Amelia went inside with Esdras behind her. Heading straight to her office, the knight called for her several times when they were the only ones in the hall, but the duchess ignored him. Lucky for her, he was conscious enough of his status to not run after her.
The Duchess was about to unleash her frustrations when a familiar voice called, forcing her to look back.
"Duchess, you're back!" a smile appeared on Amelia's face as he looked past the troubled knight. It was as if a savior arrived.
"Ancel!" she said, but her face immediately turned stern as she noted that her old advisor was following behind.
Ancel, who was also all smiles, looked confused. His eyes went past Amelia and to the knight that seemed to glare at him. He then looked back to the advisor and bowed his head.
"You're back early, duchess. Are you all right? Is there something wrong?" Vance was equally confused as his eyes darted from one man to another, then back to Amelia.
Swallowing a bit of air, Amelia pondered hard on how to tell her old advisor. What his knight did was unacceptable. He could be killed or return to where he came from, which will surely be his death since once someone's been branded as a slave in Toutis, the only freedom they'd have would be in their death.
If Amelia kept silent about it, Sybil could tell Vance, though it's unlikely that she'd do that, but she might have a slip of the tongue in the future and divulge it. It would be better for her to come clean early; her advisor would be hurt if he knew about it from someone else. And she also hated the thought of Esdras being around her so much—or just around her palace in general; he might think that she would also want the same thing that he was thinking while in the alley because she kept quiet about it.
Another misunderstanding was the last thing that Amelia wanted.
"Mr. Vance," the duchess said, followed by a sigh, "kindly make sure that Esdras is properly trained as one of your personal knights. He's a shame to your name and to my House if he couldn't get his act straight. It seemed as if he forgot the difference between us."
Ancel, who had his side at the knight, immediately turned towards him, his thumb loosening his sword with a push from his intricately decorated scabbard.
"What did you do?" Ancel's voice was low but commanding.
The evident confusion on the advisor's face was even more so when he saw how Esdras reacted. He looked at his knight with eyes that demanded an explanation, but with everyone present, the advisor chose to reprimand the knight privately as he gauged the situation.
"I… I apologize greatly, Duchess. I deeply regret my action towards you."
"What. Did. You. Do?" Ancel asked with every step closer to the man, but Esdras remained unfazed and returned the deathly stares thrown by the assassin at him.
"Also," Amelia continued, facing her advisor, "In the small chance that he might make something up, he grabbed me by the wrist when I wandered too much, thinking that I saw someone I knew. When I asked him to unhand me, he did the opposite instead. I was thankful that Sybil saw us. I don't know what would have happened if she didn't."
"Stand down, Ancel!" Vance ordered. "I will personally take care of this. Esdras, come with me." Amelia looked coldly at Esdras as he walked past her. Vance only nodded his head then they were off.
Gone from her sight, Amelia exhaled sharply. Her hand made its way to her growling stomach. Since the incident, she only had a little for lunch, and all the stress caused her to process all the food faster—she's famished for some meat and fresh pasta.
"Are you really all right, duchess? What happened?" Ancel asked worriedly as he tried to keep up with Amelia.
"I thought I saw Alexander among the crowd. When I called out, the man stopped, so I thought it was really him and was just avoiding me. I ended up going through an alley, and that's where Esdras stopped me. For a second, I thought I was going to get killed."
"What?! Oh, why that—" the assassin turned around, but Amelia was quick to pull his arm.
"Since you're here, don't tell me you also declined to be your clan's heir?" seeing the duchess smirk, Ancel relaxed. He massaged his neck and looked the other way.
"I wish I could. But my siblings are—well, they have plans of their own."
"And you don't?"
"My plan is to take over my father's title, but not the clan's. For generations, our family always had two successors. One for the title, then one for the clan. But this time, it seems that I have to shoulder both." Ancel showed a small smile.
Amelia smiled. "Well, let's call it the spices of life."
The assassin had been guarding her while his sister became her lady-in-waiting. Back then, he was still training to be a knight. He's been on a few expeditions as his father's secretary, which then led him to be honored as one of Osmea's knights.
"Until then, I would be your personal sword and shield, Duchess." The side of Ancel's eyes wrinkled as his warm smile pleased Amelia. She turned her back and resumed walking back to her office at the eastern wing.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
MICHIKOMIYU
MICHIKOMIYU Hello, everyone! First, I want to thank everyone who's been with me on Amelia and Alexander's journey so far. I don't write on the Author's Thought that much because I didn't want to disturb the story's momentum. But I'll disturb you just this once.
To my readers, I'd like to apologize for the slow updates, as revising and editing is taking me a while these days. Adulting and life have been extra demanding lately. But seeing your support motivates me a lot! Thank you so much!
Love lots,
Miyu
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