Married to the Villainous Duke

Chapter 8

"Your grace, are you sure you weren't hurt by that bastard?" Delia asks as she brushes Estelle's long black hair. 

It's the morning after the incident and Estelle is seated in front of her vanity table, getting ready for breakfast. It's clear from the dark circles under her eyes that she wasn't able to sleep well. She kept getting nightmares. Even though she doesn't want to remember, her thoughts keep going back to what happened. She feels disgusted and violated remembering how that crazy knight continuously groped and kissed her without consent.

But she reassures her maid, "I'm completely fine, Delia." She smiles at her through the mirror's reflection. The young red-head smiles in return, relieved to see that her master is able to smile despite what she had to go through. 

"Good morning Duchess Estelle," Abenant comes in the dressing room after knocking. He's probably here to tell me my schedule for the day. Although, he normally gives it to me after I finish breakfast. I hope I get more free time today though. I really need a break from all the lessons and studying after that traumatic experience.

"His excellency ordered that your schedule be cleared for today so your grace can relax," Abenant announces.

"Really? Great!" 

That's really considerate of Nikolaidis. Now I can finally go out! I'll go shopping and buy some stuff for Delia and my other maids too. Then Delia and I can eat lunch at one of the fancy restaurants at the Blanchard Center. After that, we can spend the rest of the day looking around all the interesting shops. It's going to be so fun!

"The Duke also requested that your grace should come to his office after your breakfast. That's your only schedule for today Duchess. Please excuse me," the butler bows and leaves.

~~▪~~ ~~▪~~ ~~▪~~ ~~▪~~ ~~▪~~

"Duchess Estelle has arrived," Nikolaidis' assistant, a man with bright orange hair and green eyes, says as he opens the door to the Duke's office.

"Good morning Duke Nikolaidis," Estelle curtsies and takes a seat on one of the couches in the middle of the room.

It's her first time in his office and she's surprised to see the stacks of paper on top of the Duke's dark wood table. No wonder he's been looking stressed lately. I would be stressed too with the amount of paper work piled in here. The assistant closes the office door, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

"Hello Estelle, are you feeling alright?" the Duke takes a seat beside her.

He's sitting too close, Estelle thinks. She scoots away a little from him and gives him a sheepish smile, "I'm fine..."

She actually wants to ask Nikolaidis if he got his hand checked by Dr. Ludovic. She remembers how badly bruised it looked when she assessed it. But, she doesn't want to show that she's concerned for him. She takes a peek at his hand and is glad to see a clean bandage wrapped around it.

I have to act apathetic towards him to make myself unlikable. This will stop him from falling in love with me. I need to do this to keep myself alive!

"About the incident last night, you're probably wondering why I knew that shameful man was lying to you and that you weren't an unfaithful wife."

I was really curious about that. Something in my gut was telling me the freak Nathaniel wasn't telling the truth. But, I couldn't make a decision right away since I don't have any of Estelle's memories. However, the Duke seemed so sure that asshole was lying.

"When he said that your father rejected your marriage with him, I immediately recognized he was only spouting deceit. You see, when I asked for the Marquess' permission to marry you, he told me that he wishes you to marry the man that you love."

"My father said that to you?" I know nothing about Estelle's parents but, hearing this from Nikolaidis, it makes me think they're good people. In a world like this, nobles would commonly just sell off their daughters through arranged marriages for political or financial gain.

"Yes, but I am puzzled why he allowed me to marry you when you don't even love me," Nikolaidis says frowning. Why does he look so sad? It makes me want to hug him... Stop it Estelle! Remember that you'll be executed if he falls in love with you!

"Anyhow," he clears his throat as he changes the subject. 

"I called you here to ask for your opinion on the preparations I've made for your coming birthday party," he brings out a large catalogue and places it on the coffee table in front of them. Right! Estelle's birthday or technically MY birthday is in less than 3 weeks.

"You would have normally made these preparations yourself, of course with the help of Abenant, but I thought it would be good for you if I did it. I didn't want you to overexert yourself since you just recovered and you're also going through lessons."

Estelle's eyes light up at the sight of all the pretty drawings of gowns, accessories, party decorations, cakes, and food. He prepared all of this for me? Her heart warms up at how thoughtful he is. He's making it so hard for me not to like him.

"I narrowed the options down to the ones compiled here but, if they don't suit your taste, I'll ask my secretary to bring in the more extensive catalogue."

"No need to do that, Nikolaidis. All these you've selected are already perfect," she smiles as she flips through the pages.

"I'm glad you like them, Estelle. Here, use this pen to mark the ones you like the most." 

They spend the hour together, slowly looking through the pages. She's surprised at how their conversation flows so easily, as if they're two old friends talking. Although he gives his own opinions, she also observed how he puts value in her own thoughts. She finds this unexpected from a man in his position. She thought he would be a sexist authoritarian. 

If I met someone like Nikolaidis in my old life, he would have been my ideal man. He really has everything from looks, physique, financial stability and even personality...

"Estelle, is there something on my face?" He asks her. 

"Uh n-no!" Estelle blushes. I didn't notice I was staring at him!

Nikolaidis chuckles as he brushes her red cheeks with the back of his hand, "you can keep looking if you want."

Her eyes widen from his flirty remark but she can't look away from his blue eyes. They remind her of the warm tropical sea in her hometown. Why is he so perfect? My face feels so hot and my heart feels like it's going to burst out of my chest! 

He inches his face closer to her and cups her face with one hand. No no no! He can't kiss me! But one kiss won't hurt, right? I really want to kiss Niko... 

"Your excellency!" His ginger-haired assistant suddenly barges into the room, startling Estelle and Nikolaidis. She lightly shoves him away, embarrassed that they almost got caught.

"S-sorry for interrupting your time with the Duchess," the guy stammers, "but I must tell you something important," the assistant stops and looks at Estelle briefly.

"Speak freely Stefano, my wife is privy to the affairs of the Blanchard Dukedom," Nikolaidis looks at his assistant annoyed.

"Sir Nathaniel escaped the dungeon. The guards believe Sir Clement helped him escape."

Estelle shudders at what she just heard. The lunatic escaped?!

Nikolaidis stands up, "send out messenger hawks. I want every road that leads out of the Dukedom guarded and heavily monitored. Only merchants who need to transport their goods can come in and out of the territory for the time being. That bastard couldn't have gotten too far. Get a search party prepared, I'll personally lead the manhunt for that brute."

"Yes sire!" Stefano bows and runs out of the room.

"Don't worry, Estelle. I'll hunt him down and kill him." 

For the very first time, Nikolaidis looks like a novel's villain.