Romanoff Dukedom: The Valk League (6)

Herkel's eyes widened while Fluger only looked sullen.

"Did you just… Did you just say that the Duchess made those teacups?!" Herkel exclaimed, his forefinger pointing at where he had dropped the teacup.

Ius nodded silently, making Herkel's eyes widened even further. The latter then covered his mouth with his hands as he glanced at Fluger. The two nodded at each other, and in unison, they bowed their heads at Ius.

As Herkel was about to speak, Fluger tapped his shoulder to stop him from saying anything.

Fluger then took a big gulp before he spoke, "Apologies, Ius. We were too rowdy."

Rather than addressing the apology, Ius responded to them with his quietude. For a moment, nothing changed within the grand parlor. It was as if the six young men were preserving a picture that perfectly described their relationship.

After a few seconds, Ius finally had the urge to speak.

"Once this meeting is over, head to the Duchess' office and tell Her Grace what had happened. Your apology is not for me to accept."

Knowing that they had no other choice, Herkel and Fluger conceded with a nod. Thereafter, they returned to their seats and kept their mouths shut.

However, they couldn't stop themselves from occasionally throwing glares at each other. The three uninvolved young men just sighed, hoping that the two would soon stop their childishness.

In the intervening time, Ius indulged himself with the tea. The warm liquid that smoothly glided down his throat helped calm his nerves. Once his cup was well and empty, he carefully laid it back down on the saucer.

Immediately after, he stood up from his seat and sauntered towards the window nearest to him.

There were three windows within the parlor, all of them spanning as tall as the distance from the floor to the ceiling. The glass panes were thoroughly cleaned every day by the servants, considering that Ius' had a personal vexation over the slightest dust on the panes.

The candescent rays of the sun greeted his pale skin, though he couldn't care less. His eyes landed on the garden that was brimming with Proteas. Since the grand parlor was on the third floor of the mansion, Ius had a good view of the entirety of the garden. That was the reason why he chose that very area to build his own parlor.

As of the moment, there were servants running about in the garden. They were busy decorating the place up for the upcoming Duchess' tea party.

The lady of the house was known to be meticulous in the preparations for the parties she would be hosting. The primary reason was that Duchess Romanoff only hosted parties once a year. Hence, if the servants deviated even a little from her instructions, it would signal the end of their careers in the capital.

With his glowing golden orbs, he merely watched as the servants struggled to fulfill the commands of his mother.

He could see how thorough they were in placing the table covers, arranging the flower decorations, trimming the grass, and more of those.

'It would've been better if the Duchess didn't host this party during this time. There are criminals on the run. The nobles at the party would be the perfect target for the Orschettas.'

Out of the blue, Ius' serene break was interrupted when a certain individual entered his vision. He followed her trail with his gaze, never letting her out of his sight.

'That maid, what was her name again?' He asked himself while watching the maid fix the flower arrangement on the table farthest from the entrance of the garden. 'Helga, was it? She doesn't appear to be a demi-human. But whether she's a shifter or not is still a matter needing confirmation. We can't risk having a non-human among our servants.'

Ius' had already dismissed the notion that the earlier incident was a product of his hallucination. There was something urging him to investigate the young lady. It was like an itch down his throat, one that he couldn't reach yet.

"Ius, are we going to accept the knights' request?" Fluger uttered, oblivious that he had interfered with Ius' reverie, "If we reject, we'll earn the ire of the Knight Commander. That's something that we have to avoid for the time being."

To Fluger's relief, Ius didn't ignore his words.

"We have no choice but to comply, Fluger. You should know best how insistent they are. I can ignore the Knight Commander's feelings. However, they'll pressure the head of the Romanoff Clan in the event that we reject them." Ius replied, sans giving Fluger a look.

"Alright, whose personnel should we utilize for this? I think Ivar's men fit the job since they're experienced with the hunting kind of job."

"No, we won't be assembling anyone's forces. We will do the assignment ourselves."

"By ourselves, do you mean the six of us?"

Fluger became confused by Ius' statement. He failed to see the necessity of their participation when there were others who could perfectly do the job.

"Is there anyone else in the room?" Ius rejoinder sounded so sarcastic that it frustrated Fluger.

"No, rather, what I want to know is why must it be us?"

"Fluger, you've all become so accustomed to ordering others that you can't think of the essence of my command?"

Without a doubt, Ius' remark earned raised eyebrows among the group. Unfortunately, Ius wasn't done yet.

"I was afraid that the five of you were getting rusty from sitting around, doing nothing but moving your mouths."

Fluger sighed as he replied, "... I understand. When are we sup-"

Fluger went on to speak about his judgments. However, Ius was not able to hear the rest of them. His attention was captured by the maid who had just faced his direction. The gazes of the two people met in the midst of the bustle down the garden.

In an instant, his eyes narrowed as he perused the innocence beyond the prying scrutiny.

"See, I was not hallucinating after all. Those are the brightest golden orbs that I've ever looked at in my whole life."