I Choose The Villain Duke

Euphemia was greeted by the two palace maids warmly after her recovery. They were really worried for her when she suddenly fell ill. They did not know that she was actually poisoned and not ill.

"It's quite lonely to eat alone. Can I please eat with you?" Euphemia asked, her expression sad.

The maids looked at each other unsure.

"Lady Euphemia, we are merely maids. A Saintess should not be dining with us," one of the maids said.

Euphemia pretended to look sadder. "I don't think of you merely as maids. Can't I be closer to you just because I'm a Saintess?"

The maids looked at each other. They were struggling not to agree with Euphemia's strange request.

"Please, I am not asking for you to let me out of the Palace. I just wish to eat with you. Can you please bring me to your dining hall?" Euphemia asked.

One of the maids sighed but smiled afterwards. "If that is your wish, Lady Euphemia."

"Oh, thank you!" Euphemia squealed.

Euphemia looked like she remembered something. "But some of your friends might be uncomfortable too if they learn that I'm a Saintess. Will it be all right if you introduce me as a maid?"

The maids looked astonished.

"You are willing to look like a maid, Lady Euphemia?"

"Yes, it's fine. I think your maid uniforms are adorable. Perhaps you can introduce me as a new maid so I can eat with all of you," Euphemia said cheerfully.

The maids nodded.

"We shall look for an extra maid uniform, Lady Euphemia. I think we have some new ones in our storage."

"But what shall we call you? We can't call you by your name, Lady Euphemia."

"Hmm . . . You can call me Mia," Euphemia said with a huge grin.

*

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*

Euphemia wore the maid uniform. It was a simple black dress with a white ruffled apron. She also tied her hair in a bun to avoid drawing attention to the color of her hair and hid it inside a ruffled maid cap.

"My Lady, I mean, Lady Mia, are you truly sure you wish to dine with us?" one of the maids asked.

"Mia is fine. I am sure. I do sorely miss dining with others," Euphemia said.

"Perhaps His Highness will be in a better mood if you ask him to dine with you," the other maid said.

Euphemia tried to hide her annoyance. "No, His Highness is quite busy. I would not want to drag him away from his responsibilities just because I wish for some company."

"Would you like to come with us for lunch or supper?"

"Lunch. The sooner the better," Euphemia said with a cheerful smile.

"Lunch is still an hour away. You may still rest for a while, Lady Euphe-, I mean, Mia," the maid said, obviously uncomfortable in addressing the Saintess without respect.

"I'll wait. See you later!" Euphemia said and the two maids went out of the room.

Euphemia let a few minutes go by for a while. Silence filled the room but her body was on high alert. It must have been around fifteen minutes when she decided to move.

She went out of the room quietly.

*

*

*

Lucien watched as his own body searched for the engagement contract in vain. He could feel Hansel's presence observing his body from a distance warily.

His body stopped moving. As if it had accepted the situation that it could not find the engagement contract.

Hansel breathed a sigh of relief but then it started moving again. It was going to look for something else.

His body moved on to the book shelves and began to peruse the books one by one. Lucien was also confused what his body was looking for.

Then the body stopped moving again. Its fingers stopped on a sentence in a book.

"An engagement is nullified if any of the engaged dies before marriage."

*

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*

Prince Vincent was in a terrible mood. His face was a horror, the Saintess had just healed herself, and now this red-haired wench was trying to force him in marriage. Technically, in a formalized engagement.

He looked at her with disdain. She was covered in white like a babe at a christening. She was wearing a cap and it almost covered all of her red hair. Did she think he would fall for her if she covered herself with white and hid her dreadful red hair? The impudence! The lot of them! All impudent! 

"Praise be, future Sun of the empire," the father and daughter said in unison. 

Vincent chose not to reply the customary greeting. His mother was not by his side to reprimand him for not minding his manners anyway.

"I do not recall your name. I do recall our conversation outside the palace gates. You must have come here to be my concubine then," Vincent said looking at Rubiella in a menacing manner. 

Lord Edward looked like he almost fell on the floor while taking a sit. The lady in question was looking at him strangely. She almost looked like she was angry at him and she was controlling her temper. 

"My name is Rubiella Summers, Your Highness. Thank you for gracing us with your presence despite our abrupt visit. You are truly as merciful and kind as they say," she said.

Was she that eloquent before?

"Do you remember my wife, Your Highness? My Rosietta and your mother were the best of friends. Our families used to spend summers together. You were still very young so you may not remember but perhaps spending time with my daughter will refresh your memory. My daughter is well-educated and she is a pleasant conversation partner," Lord Edward said.

Vincent frowned. Should he get his mother to drive them away? But she had become unreadable to him. He could not fathom her plans and why she was not crowning him as king despite his father's death. He should not call for her. She might use it as an excuse that he could not handle even a small problem like this.

"I have not agreed to an engagement with your daughter. You may leave now," Vincent said.

"Your Highness, I implore you. Do you not remember our dance at the ball? It was magical and I am sure the problems of our kingdom have made you forget me. May I invite you for a dance again, Your Highness?" Rubiella asked.

Why was everyone insulting his memory these days? He ran his fingers through his golden hair in frustration.

"A dance, you say? I do not remem-"

No, he should not say he could not remember again. He did not want rumors that he had memory loss to spread.

"Ahem, you did say that I am merciful and kind thus I will abide with your wish. We have no music at the moment though," Vincent said.

The viscount looked like he was about to burst with glee.

"I shall look for a court musician, Your Highness! I will leave the two of you for now. Perhaps you could dance even without the music. They do say that the beating of hearts in love sound like music. I will take my leave for now, Your Highness!" Lord Edward said, bowed quickly, and fled the room in a rush.

What the bloody hell? The viscount must be delusional! In love?! Far from it! 

"Your Highness," Rubiella said and let her hand hang in front of him to take.

He sighed and bent down as customs dictated. "May I have the honor of dancing with you, My Lady?"

Manners were hard to break despite his irritation of being swept away at their pace.

She smiled. She looked pleased. She looked . . . almost pretty.

He took her hand and started with a waltz. She followed his lead. Her movements like fluid. It was almost like dancing with air. She was matching his movements, his subtle changes in the tempo of his steps, and everything seemed to fade away.

They danced in silence. This must be what being in a trance felt like. It almost seemed magical. There was no music but his body felt so light. The steps coming to him so naturally as he moved and she moved with him. He had the strangest urge to rip off her white cap and see her long red hair.

Then all of a sudden, she began to slide from his grip. He could hear the floor squeaking. She must have slipped on the floor. He could feel himself falling. Everything was happening so fast.

THUD! 

His body landed on the floor. His eye was hurting. She must have hit his eye while falling down.

"I am so sorry, Your Highness! Are you all right? Oh no! Your eye! I must have hit you accidentally. I am so sorry! I beg for your forgiveness. I will look for a doctor, Your Highness!"

Rubiella got up and left, leaving him stunned and confused. What just happened?

*

*

*

Rubiella ran. It was all part of the plan. Well, some of it. She needed an excuse to get inside the palace then get away from the prince to explore the palace.

Rubiella shivered. The prince almost looked like he was besotted with her. How horrid!

Now, time to look for Euphemia.