"Evan, listen to me, she had surely mixed something in the meal! I swear"
he hurriedly explained but the girl only shook her head with a disappointed look on her face.
"Father, I think you are tired after all that happened and need more rest. It is fine, you should go and have a rest.
I will meet you during dinner.'' In a soft voice, hiding her disappointment, the girl replied with a warm face as if she was worried about his mental health.
"What do you mean? Do you think that I am crazy to imagine things?
These people had surely insulted me but you are taking their side. Do you know my room.. It was…" just as he was about to tell her that they have asked her to share a room with the lowest level servant with only bed in the room,
And that lowly servant had kicked him for the bed only to end up sleeping in bed, another servant came out with a worried face as if he had seen a ghost.
"My lady, before I get blamed like Jenny, I want to tell you that I have given him the room closer to the pool!" the pool! How could he forget about that.
How he wished he could trample this knight under his feet. He was the same who had laughed over his condition before.
"You still have the nerve to talk about that? Did you hear him? He had given me that cold room and now.." but a frown formed on his face when he heard many gasps from around.
He would have thought that they all were shocked at how badly he was treated but when he noticed the ugly and worried expressions of Evan, he realized there was something amiss.
Why was she looking at him as if he had lost his mind!
"What, why are you!"
"Father, it is okay. I know that you are tired. You should go and rest!" she shook her head as she did not let him speak further and held his hands.
"Escort him back to his room and let him rest." Before he could deny and demand an explanation, the knights had already come forward and forced him out of there.
"Wait! What are you doing? And you let me go! I am not done yet!" he continued to shout and holler but only heard her son in return.
He turned to look at her and was flabbergasted to see that she was crying!
Why in the world she was crying now!
"Just look at him! He had got the best room that is only given to the royal family for stay and he still had the audacity to complain. He better go and live at the royal palace."
"If the duke would come to know that he is living in the room better than his, then he would be more disheartened that his in law is such an ingrate"
"Shh! The lady is crying. We should not worry her further!"
As he was taken away by the knights, he finally understood that he was tricked.
He should have told me that he was living in the servants quarters, not in the luxurious room. But when he heard the word pool, it instantly triggered the cold place where he had taken bath.
It was closer to that servant's room, so he thought…
"Ughhh! You made a fool of me. Let me go so that I can tell her the truth!" he shouted in a loud voice.
He was tricked twice and now she thinks that he has lost his rationality. It was not good for his plan, he had to win her trust more and more so that he could convince her to do his bidding.
But the knights just looked at him as if he was a fool and continued to drag him even when he protested and struggled all the way to his room.
Just as they reached the same room where he had spent last night, he was thrown on the floor as if he was a criminal who was sent to prison.
There was no mercy in their actions.
"Aahh!" The man hit his knees with the corner of the bed and winced but they closed the room without giving him a second look.
"You all just wait! I will bring her here personally next time!" he shouted but immediately covered his mouth and nose when the strong stench started to fill his nose.
That damned brats had not even cleaned the room!! How did they suppose that he would stay here?
He stood up and knocked on the door.
"Wait! Atl least clean the room and give me a fresh set of blanket and bed sheet." he demeaned in a loud voice, afraid that his voice would not reach the other corner of the room but his pleas fell into deaf ears.
He continued to shout and complain until his throat ran dry and in the end, he slumped on the ground.
"Let it go Edward, just endure it till tonight. Then you can clear all the misunderstandings." he explained himself as he dragged his tried and hungry body to the bed and slept on it.
At least that boy would not come till night to snatch the bed from him. He better sleep till then and then he would demand for another room.
With that he closed his eyes and the sleep instantly took him since his body was exhausted with all the loud shrieks he had made.
Just as he closed his eyes, Evan took a deep breath as she leaned on the wall on the other side.
"You should not blame yourself. The man is responsible for his actions." Leo rubbed her back in a soothing manner as he looked at her red eyes.
Though everything was an act, he knew that those tears she shed earlier were real.
"How could that man still call me his daughter when he was here to sell me!"