A Deceptive Beauty

Chapter Five

Belle, startled, looked up to see the familiar face of the duke. She sighed in relief when she knew who it was.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop her heart rate. Most likely because of the close distance between them.

But even then, he wasn't actually that close, just too close for her comfort. He just made her nervous. Especially with his intense emerald green eyes staring at her.

"Your Grace! You gave me a shock!" Belle exclaimed, over the initial shock. She wiped the dirt on her hands on to her skirts and stood up. She gave a half curtsy, knowing how horrible the other ones were.

"How did you get that rose?" he quickly asked again. He looked surprised and edgy about the flower. His brows furrowed in confusion.

"It was growing here, Your Grace. I was just going to tend to it," Belle said, unsure why the duke would want to know about about a flower that was found in his own garden. With a garden as beautiful as his, filled with various types of rare flowers, wouldn't he know what was in his garden? Some of the flowers did not naturally grow in the region.

"How is that possible? I thought he destroyed all of them," he quietly muttered to himself. That quickly caught Belle's attention.

"He? Who's he?" Belle couldn't help but ask.

"No one you need to know, Blue," he replied quickly, noticing her blue dress. Belle thought his fast response was suspicious.

"What are you hiding?" Belle asked, feeling her eyes narrow slightly. Surely a person who destroyed the duke's roses wouldn't need protection. Who was he trying to protect? Why?

"Nothing!" he snapped. "Don't dig into something that doesn't need digging into," he warned.

That made Belle more determined to get some answers. Maybe he refused to tell her who did it, but it certainly wouldn't matter if he told her why the person did it.

"Whoever he is, why would he destroy all the roses?" Belle demanded, momentarily forgetting her place.

Who was this man who dared to destroy roses? There were people who never glimpsed it in their life time - like Melanie - and this man had the audacity to destroy a precious flower. It infuriated her because roses were so rare.

"It's none of your business," the duke replied, making the distance between them widen. Belle saw his eyes twitch from where she stood.

"But-"

"I told you! Stop searching for answers! Who are you to interrogate me?" he interrupted her. He glared at her, making her see his eyes, which were now starting to look like they swirled with gold.

Reality washed over her as she remembered that he was a duke and she had no power. She held back her retort and annoyance. Not because she was in fear for her life, but that she'd rather be in control of herself. And that she was behaving rather aggressive.

"I'm sorry. Please accept my apologies, I don't know what came over me," Belle hung her head in shame. She really didn't know what came over her. She had never acted so brash before and didn't know why the change.

Belle looked up and saw the duke fall to his knees. He shut his eyes and groaned. His strange, sudden behavior alarmed Belle.

"Your Grace?" Belle asked, her voice raised a few pitches. Was he hurt?

He responded by clutching his head and putting his head on the grass. Belle saw him tremble. He clenched his jaws in pain.

She rushed over and knelt down by him. She didn't know what to do. Shaking him could make his pain worse for all she knew. So she just stayed kneeling and holding her hands over him, in case he tipped over.