Chapter 14   – An Honest Rejection

As the Duke of Skad scanned the young ladies in the crowd one by one, the ones that had made eye contact with the duke started to make a fuss. It was a natural reaction, after all, his handsome looks, as beautiful as Empress Belice, were very popular among the ladies. His status as an eligible bachelor fueled their covetousness, for the position of being the Duchess of Skad, was the second- highest position for a woman after the Empress.

The materialistic young ladies, ecstatically eager to capture the attention and heart of the duke, tried their best to hide their excitement.

“Duke Skad, I hope you don’t forget that it was I who organised this party. You have no right to glare at these young ladies.” Belice, who stood beside him, leaned over and whispered.

“Your Highness, what do you mean, glaring? Of course, not. I was simply trying to acquaint myself with each and every one of these beautiful ladies.”

Belice glared menacingly at the duke and smiled.

“Just so you know Alexcent, if you don’t get married by the end of this year we will cut off all business budgets for this year and the next and all budgets that you are in charge of. Oh and, of course, your two legs as well.” Saying those words, Empress Belice took Duke Roden’s hand and walked towards the dance hall.

In the palace, every party started with the Empress’s first dance.

“Tsk, she really has a bad temper. So Gen, where is she? The young lady, you told me about. Emily or Eme something?”

Gen who had been scanning the room for Amethyst, finally found her and very discreetly, pointed her out with his gaze to the duke.

“Your joke is way out of line.”

“Your Highness, what do you mean?”

Gen asked innocently, pretending to be oblivious to what the duke was referring to. Alescent cleared his throat and glared at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Dressed to a palace party in what one would wear on a stroll. Is the Lohikin household having a hard time?”

“Of course not. They may not have a title worthy of the treasury department, but they own a private bank.”“Then how do you explain that fashion?”

“I guess the young lady is modest.”

“Fine, let’s say that’s the case for the dress. What about her looks? She’s not my type.”

“Hmm. But it’s only a contract marriage so looks shouldn’t really matter…”

“Gen, I don’t think I’ve seen you in the training ground. Report to the training ground for work tomorrow at five.”

“Your Highness! Tomorrow is my day off.”

“Precisely why. What’s the point of taking a rest? Let’s work out together.”

Gen could only reply in the affirmative, as the duke smiled at him through clenched teeth. The Duke of Skad, then walked over to the corner where the young Lady Lohikin was situated.

Amethyst, meanwhile, oblivious to the murmuring around her, had transferred her focus from the handsome young men to the food. She was now scrutinizing the food the same way as she had done the men earlier.

Just as she closed her eyes and hummed in appreciation of the taste and flavours, a figure appeared behind Amethyst and cleared his throat.

“Good evening, Miss.”

Amethyst turned around to look at the duke, her eyes wide and mouth full of chocolate. The people around her hushed suddenly as pin-drop silence prevailed, with everyone’s cold gazes directed towards her.“Who?” Amethyst asked in confusion.

The duke raised his eyebrows, unpleasantly surprised, but soon they returned to their original position.

His eyes shone with unwarranted arrogant as though to say ‘don’t you know who I am?’

“I am Duke Alexcent Skad. Miss.”

“I am Heeyeo-, no Amethyst Lohikin.”

She had never said her new name out loud and couldn’t help but stutter over it.

‘’ Duke Skad thought to himself as he stared down at Amethyst expressionlessly. As there was no reaction, Amethyst wondered if she missed out on something or done something horribly wrong.

She quickly greeted him in return as he continued to look piercingly at her. “Ahem. It’s an honour to meet you.”

As she inspected the man who had engaged her in a conversation, she was amazed.

Neatly combed platinum hair, red and alluring eyes looked down at her. Sharp nose and chin, broad shoulders. His black tail-coat did not hide his well defined body and thick thighs.

The duke noticed the look in her eyes and continued the conversation after a moment of silence.

“Miss Lohikin, I would like to ask you for a dance. Would you do me the honour?”

At those words, the murmuring started again. It was a surprise that the Duke of Skad had turned up at the party, but to think that he was asking a young lady for a dance! Even Empress Belice had never seen the duke dancing since his social debut!

Whilst everyone was in shock, you could see the audience fall under two categories. One consisted of a group eager to see the duke dance, and the other was a group of young ladies who raged with barely suppressed fury, not wanting anyone else but themselves to dance with the duke.

“Excuse me, Duke Skad, but I’m afraid my dancing skills will cause you much embarrassment. Kindly withdraw your invitation.”