WHAT MY GUTS TOLD ME!

Leticia is in daze in front of the fireplace at the designated room that the butler led her into.

She still can't believe what was happening even now as a maid set a refreshment in front of her and poured hot tea into the teacup with elegance.

As expected of a Duke's servant!

"If you need anything please just ring the bell beside the table…" the maid explained.

She turned her head as she looked at the golden bell placed on the table beside the couch.

"Then, I'll leave first."

The maid excused herself and Leticia was left alone in the room.

"Haaa…!" She sighed loudly and rested her head on the couch.

"Seriously, how the hell did I get myself into all of these....!"

***

It took ten minutes just to see the whole scale of the palace of the Duke at the Capital as the entrance had trees on both sides that hindered and hid the view of the whole place.

But she knew the moment that she saw the facade that it's no laughing matter when they said that the Duke of the North was a war hero that accumulated a fortune through multiple rewards bestowed by his Majesty.

"Miss Leticia…"

Mike stretched his hand to help Leticia down from the horse.

Hup!

Leticia got down and patted herself to take the fur of the horse off.

And as if that was the cue, the butler in charge of the Duke's mansion stepped forward and greeted them as he bowed.

"Welcome Sir Mike and…" The butler paused,

"Oh! You can call me Leticia!" She replied.

"I see, then I will do so… welcome Lady Leticia, I'm Hans the butler of Duke Hugh." Hans, the butler said as he Introduced himself.

Leticia silently blinks her eyes a few times with no expression on the surface of her face masking her true emotion inside as she absorbs that her intuition was yet again correct.

However, it never stayed inside her mind as she saw the butler stare at her and call her attention.

"Lady Leticia…? Did I say something wrong?"

'Lady…?' She asked herself as calling a lady was akin to being a person with status and rank.

She shakes her head while doing the same thing with her hands in the air as she replies, "No! You didn't do something… I was just amazed at the sight." she said in an excuse.

"Oh is that so? We're glad you find this place a sight to behold…" Hans gave his business smile.

The butler was about to bow again when Leticia interjected and corrected his way of calling. It was enough that she can be called by her name. Feeling uncomfortable at the treatment, Leticia stopped him.

"You don't need to do that Sir Hans… I'm just a commoner so, you don't need to do that!"

"But you're a guest of the Duke, Lady Leticia. It's our duty to respect the people that the Duke

She looked at the butler that she suspected to be in his mid-30's. The slick back sky blue hair paired with his turquoise orbs and a monocle placed on his right eye and his proper stance made her think that she saw him somewhere… especially that the butler was dressed in black swallow-tail coat with white undershirt and a grey waistcoat paired with black tie.

He's demeanor made Leticia think that's how a butler typically looks like in the medieval era.

Yep! Definitely saw him in one of those medieval movies on N'tflix!

"Oh, Hans… I didn't know that you'll greet us personally." Mike commented interjecting as he felt that his presence was ignored.

Hans smirks and looks at him, "His Grace contacted us that there will be a guest that Sir Mike will escort to the residence and informed us to give our utmost care in preparation for the guest."

Mike was irked at Hans but he was more curious and confused as to how meticulous their commander can be when it concerns Miss Leticia.

"I see… then that means that her room has been prepared, right?" Mike asked.

"Of course, we've been preparing since morning- ..." The butler paused because at that moment the wind blew hard and Leticia's hood came off.

Her silky chocolate hair splashed like a wave and floated in the air before it slowly fell down to her waist.

Her flustered eyes shine against the orange colored sky and Hans was taken aback and was stunned at her unique charm that made him describes her like she embodies the afterglow during the hot summer time where the skies were clear and the humid wind whispers and blew the dried brown leaves to the air.

"What the-" Leticia uttered in shock.

She swepped her hair and tucked the strands behind her ears. She noticed that it became quiet and glanced around to see turquoise orbs staring at her in a dazed state.

'Is something on my face? Did I do something wrong?' She got anxious but still stared at the butler for answers.

As he met her piercing golden gaze under the half-light, Hans woke up from his mesmerization and gave his business smile like he never was entrance in the first place.

'This bastard…' Mike thought as he noticed how Hans paused while he looked at her.

Mike can understand where Hans was coming from as he was also taken aback when he first saw Leticia but the situation they were in during that time never really made him think about her beautiful appearance,

'But now that I could take a closer look, I could understand why they react like that. She has a certain charm and beauty that even the noble ladies that I saw in the Capital or in the North can't compare.' Mike thinks to himself.

'That was why the Commander strictly told me not to let her take her hood off… I think I understand why…" Mike added.

"You should go inside, Lady Leticia, we prepared your room for you." Hans said, interrupting Mike's thoughts.

"Yes, I also think so, Miss Leticia." Mike added.

***

And just like that, a night passed by and now Leticia was sitting at the guest room in front of the fireplace with a refreshment on the table and a cup of tea on the saucer.

As she glanced around, she knew that she was being treated with utmost respect and luxury. They gave her a rose bath as soon as she entered the room and massaged her body so that she almost felt like she was lying on cloud nine as her body melted.

"This is like an expensive medieval themed hotel with an exclusive parlor and a personal masseuse inside your own suite...!"

The room that she was staying in, even though they called it a guest room, was decorated with expensive and antique furniture with intricate design and styled in rococo architecture.

"Damn! I wonder how this room would cost if this became a hotel." She said as she was looking at the ceiling as she rested her head at the couch.

"I still can't believe it though… who would have thought that the one who badly destroyed my vegetable garden was the notorious Duke of the North!"

Then she remembered when she was thinking about abandoning Hugh in the cold wind and leaving him on the ground as he bled as revenge for her plants.

Now that she thinks about it, "I really do have some extreme thoughts."

She massaged her temple and sighed. "Haa… Thank goodness I held myself back when I was so pissed off about my garden being destroyed by some stranger that trespassed my yard."

She looked down at herself and commented about how prepared the servants of the Duke were.

"I wonder if this belongs to someone else"

When she thinks about it, the moment that she saw the Victorian dress that the maid presented to her, she knew that she was in for some pain.

It was the first time that she wore a corset and she could say that she's not happy about being restrained in some areas just to show some curves and the petticoats made her feel so stuffy.

"Thank goodness they let me wear something else." she sighed again.

She was happy that she's now wearing a more unrestrained dress. It's a long emerald gown with a v-neck that accentuated the neck of the person that would wear it.

It had a silver intricate design in the hem of the long sleeves and the bottom of the gown where the fabric just slid down to her feet like flowing water as it was too soft to touch.

Leticia barely made the maid stop from braiding her hair with jewels that she felt were too heavy and precious to use when she's just going to stay inside the guest room. She and the maid made a compromise that she would just use some flowers as decoration for her hair.

She sighed for the nth time.

"I'm not going to get used to this… I just need to wait for a week until I get the promised house that the Duke said. I wish time would pass by quickly!"