Young Duke's desire

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"You're in charge of the lady and yet she has a cold?" He roared. "Why was she outside when it was raining so heavily? What are you going to do if she falls sick again?"

"Please forgive me, My Lord." Marine dropped to her knees, she was shaking terribly.

"Brother this is my fault." Rain came in between the scary Lord and her trembling maid. "I was the one who told her to take me outside, I was the one who opened the windows, the only thing she did wrong was follow my orders."

"Are you taking the side of a maid?" Izekiel seemed surprised, his thick red brows furrowed together angrily. "What have you learned during the past three years? When a maid is being punished you should never defend them!"

Rain shuddered terribly.

"I'm sorry, brother, what I mean is…" He interrupted her sharply.

"You would like to be punished in her stead?" He dared her and the room fell silent. "You better answer me quickly."

"Yes, brother." She answered just like he wanted, this wasn't the first time she had seen him torture the maids, and he did that mindlessly. Rain shut her eyes tightly as she couldn't bear to see Marine being tortured by her brother.

While he could do anything he wanted to a maid, he couldn't do that much to her, or so she thought. She was immediately convinced when her face suddenly yanked to the side and she stumbled to the ground.

"My lady…" Marine shrieked and she rushed towards her side. "Please Young Master…Please punish me, Madam is innocent."

 She begged with her head touching the ground, Rain unclasped her hands, she had a cut in her mouth, and she could taste her blood.

The young Duke laughed even more, he hadn't had that much fun in a while.

"Now I don't know who to punish, tell me Rain what should I do?"

 Rain coughed seriously, the cold getting into her even more, but she was trying her best to hold back so that she didn't get Marine killed. It seemed like the young Duke was bloodthirsty.

"Please spare us." Rain concluded and he nodded in agreement.

"It's quite late," He extended a hand for her, and she received it, he pulled her up and his hands caressed her face, he held her face in his hands and rubbed softly on her lips. He cleaned the blood away from the edge of her lips with his thumb and his next action shocked her.

He placed his thumb closer to his lips and his tongue darted out to lick off the blood.

"Uh…" She gasped when his strong shoulders suddenly gripped her shoulders.

"Ensure that you don't get sick." He muttered. "If you do get sick, I'm going to carve out her skin and hang in the front of your residence."

He said pointing to poor Marine who was trembling terribly from the fear.

"The Young Duke is crazy," Rain muttered as tears slipped out of her eyes. "He is much crazier than I thought."

"My Lady…" Marine pulled the shocked girl into a small hug. Izekiel had been long gone, but Rain remained rigid in her same position. "Are you alright?"

Rain shook her head, it wasn't from the cold anymore, and she was trembling from fear as well.

"You shouldn't have said anything," Marine scolded when she noticed that one part of Rain's face had swollen. "You should have just let him punish me."

"He could have killed you, you don't know what he can do." Rain muttered as she held Marine tighter in a hug.

"My God…" Marine panicked. "My lady you have a fever, I have to go and call the physician, you are shaking too."

"No," Rain caught her hands before she could run out of the room. "Please no."

"It seems serious." Marine's smoldering eyes turned back to Rain, they were filled with tears of worry. "Please let me go."

"You can't go, I can't be sick." Rain answered. "Brother Izekiel would kill you if I fell sick, there must be something you can do."

Marine fell silent.

"I can't endanger you because of my selfishness." Marine tried to remove her hands but Rain gripped it tightly, still refusing to let her go.

"Please don't." Marine didn't have any choice but to take care of the girl, she was grateful the girl chose to protect her like this but she didn't want to be selfish either.

"Rain…" Izekiel was surprised when he saw his little sister just outside the court of his residence in the morning, his eyes narrowed in confusion and he walked towards her to confirm. "It's truly you."

"Good morning, brother." She said with a small smile and courtesies.

 She looked like she would fall over the previous evening, even when he slapped her he noticed just how high her body temperature was. He had been so sure she would fall sick overnight, but here she was standing in front of him with a radiant energy.

"I came here to wait for you because I know you usually take your morning walk out here." She tried her best to be composed.

"Why is that?"

"I figured you were angry with me yesterday, and so I came here to wait for you, so I could apologize." She answered after raising her head slightly, her hands fumbling with the buttons on her sleeves nervously. "If it's also possible I would like to invite you over for tea."

"How do you feel?" He asked as he leaned closer to her, he placed his hands on her head to feel her temperature, surprisingly, she was alright.

"I am fine thanks." She answered before she stepped back softly, "I know you were concerned for me, I will take proper care of my body as from today."

"That's surprising." He didn't even try to hide his surprise, the Rain he knew would fall sick even at the slightest cold wind. "Yes, please, come inside for tea."

He held her hands and pulled her along with him into his residence.

"I apologize for hitting you yesterday," He folded his muscular arms across his chest, and a slight frown formed on his face. "I must have been out of my mind to hit my little sister like that, my precious little sister."

Rain shuddered.

She disliked the look in the Duke's eyes, it was the same way Prince Aryan looked at her, and she felt if that was the case, then there was something wrong with her brother.

She gasped lightly when she felt his cold finger touch the wound at the sides of her mouth, she flinched slightly.

"Does it still hurt?" He asked and Rain shook her head.

"No, this is nothing." She answered she didn't know much about her family but she understood the purpose of his visit, he didn't want her to hide from him anymore, if she didn't come to find him he would come to find her.

And there would be punishments when he does.

It explains why he came to her residence first after such a tiresome journey.

It was to scare her.

She didn't want to think about it like that, because it is an overthinking that can be wrong, but it would seem that her brother liked her a little too much than necessary.

"I spoke to Father," He broke the thick silence that lingered and a maid approached their table with a tray in her hands, she set the tray down and arranged the tea cups on the table. "He wanted me to oversee most of your activities, especially the one relating to your coming-of-age ceremony."

Rain's shaky hands picked up the cup and sipped from the hot tea, she had been shivering terribly but was acting out to be strong. If he ever finds out she was sick, Marine could kiss her neck goodbye.

"I hope that wouldn't be bothersome for you." She asked.

"Father sounded very disappointed while he spoke about you," He continued making her heart sink. The Duke was disappointed in her. "He said you had a lot of potential, yet you didn't want to use them."

"I will be honored to receive some lessons from you." She answered with a light shake in her voice.

"Rain I will be honest with you." The Young Duke stepped out of his seat and strolled towards her, he placed an arm on her shoulders and bent slightly. "In this Duchy, no one, absolutely no one is your ally."

"B-Brother?" She asked in confusion when his hands reached her lower back.

"Even the maid you're trying so hard to protect, at the slightest chance she gets she wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the back." He said as he palmed her thighs softly, Rain was confused, she didn't know why he was doing it but she was too afraid to ask. "It's just me, Rain. I am the only one who truly loves you, Rain."

His voice became hoarse as he whispered the words in her ears, he took a long whiff of her hair, and tears gathered in her eyes, once again, she felt powerless and useless but he suddenly stepped away from her.

"You don't know how hard it is to control myself, Rain."

She knew it, the young duke seemed to harbor romantic feelings for his half-sister. 

He is no less than a scum, as well.