Sealed kiss

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"I thought as much, I had tried to get his mind off the grief but I guess he wasn't satisfied, but I had no idea he would go so far." Doni dropped his head regretfully. "If I knew I would have tried my best to prevent it from happening."

"I don't understand what you mean," She whispered, clutching tightly to the materials covering her petite body. "Did you come here because you heard my screams or was it because you had suspected your friend in the first place?"

She was smart…

She caught on quickly.

"He held grudges against the Duke and his household," Doni explained further. "Naturally, he would try to get his revenge, truthfully, I came here based on my instincts."

She gasped.

"He must have discussed the attack with you," she accused, and Doni could not deny it.

"I tried to talk him out of it." He defended. "We had agreed he wouldn't try to hurt you."

"Why am I being targeted for something that wasn't my fault, it wasn't my sin, to begin with, I haven't even met his sister before," she was mad, tears still brewing in her eyes. "I am not the Duke nor am I the young Duke, why do you all point fingers at me?"

"Because all of us are suffering from sins that aren't ours as well, I am here because my mother ran away, the Duke decided to punish me instead!" Doni snapped making Rain jolt in fear, she had never seen him raise his voice so much before, and she cowered backward, tears leaking from the edge of her eyes. "Do you know why?"

The room fell silent, Rain felt offended, so she didn't reply.

"I asked you if you know why!"

She shook her head.

"It's because I was weak, and the easiest target." He proceeded. "He felt forgiveness was too much for a scoundrel like me and so he reduced me to nothing. It didn't surprise you that I said I didn't have a name?"

"What?" Rain's eyes widened in surprise, she didn't remember when he told her that he didn't have a name, she didn't even know he didn't have a name. She thought he was just called Doni because her father thought the name befit.

"You have a name?"

"Of course," He chuckled, "I mean who doesn't have a name, the Duke had been so furious he strapped me to a chair and allowed the guards to beat me until I lost my memories and now I couldn't even remember my name even if I wanted to, I am stuck with this name for the rest of my life."

A small gasp escaped Rain.

"The happy or sad memories I had with my mother and the people around me weren't even spared." He explained further, guilt crawled up to Rain's chest. "So tell me if I am wrong for hating you along with the Duke."

Rain fell silent.

"Don't I have a right to hate you as well?" He queried again. "That boy had only one family, his sister, she was a beautiful young woman who did everything for the sake of her younger brother."

Doni pointed to the man, who was Rain's assailant, lying unconsciously on the floor.

"His elder sister, Alora was a beauty among the servants, even as she wore torn clothes and rags, her beauty was still unmatched." Doni lifted his face proudly. "The Young lord of the estate was taking his usual morning work, and Alora worked in the garden where he takes his leisurely works, he was attracted by her magnetic beauty and he coveted her."

Rain's heart raced, this was the same thing the Young Duke was trying to do to her.

"The young Duke offered the girl some money like she was some cheap whore to sleep with him, but Alora refused, we might be servants but we have dignity, she had told him." He paused to study her reaction and just like he wanted, he had instilled fear in her. She listened to his story attentively, with dried tears at the edge of her eyes. "The Duke was enraged, he thought she was a commodity he could get, the servants that lived in the duchy belonged to the duchy and so he decided to exercise the owner's right. The royal guard brought Alora to his chambers where she was forced to fulfill the young's Duke sexual desires."

Rain gasped lightly when Doni suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

"I understand the pain he went through when he heard the news, and he went straight to the young Duke's residence to rescue his sister but he was taken away to be punished instead." Rain tried to wrench away Doni's hands, his grip biting deep into her skin and she shuddered from fear.

Tears well back into her eyes.

"He was beaten so bad he couldn't sit down for days, but that didn't compare to the pain he felt when he met his sister the next day." He leaned closer to her. "Aren't you curious about what happened with Alora?"

Rain shuddered, Doni looked, even more, scarier tonight, even though he had just saved her and held her in his arms like something treasurable, the look in his eyes scared her even more than when the assailant tried to attack her.

"She was branded, on her very beautiful face, in bold letters "The Duke's Whore" Do you know how devastating that is?" He asked curiously and Rain felt the tears in her eyes fell to her cheeks. "Alora tried her best to live with it, but the nasty words on her face were unable to allow her to go on, she soon took her own life. Now answer me Rain."

He held her other hand.

"If you were in his shoes, what would you do?"

"This is wrong…" She whispered making Doni raise a curious eyebrow at her. "The Young Duke is wrong for what he did, he is wrong for trying to hurt me, and you are also wrong for trying to blackmail me."

She sobbed.

"You are selfish." He tells her sternly, throwing her petite body against her bed frame, and she curls up away from him. "Somehow you are still just thinking about yourself."

"I was hurt, if you hadn't shown up, he could have killed me." She retorted. "As much as you hate to admit it, I am also a victim, if he was angry at what the Duke did, he should have gone for him and not me, what makes him think the Duke would be worried if anything happened to me."

"The Duke's pride," Doni answered. "Trampling on the Duke's pride is everything for him."

"You don't seem to be worried about me," She noticed. "Why did you stop him if you were going to be so mad at me? I didn't ask for your help, you could have just allowed it to happen if you were going to be like this. You saved me, why? Because you want me to feel guilty? Do you want me to be indebted to you or something? Or is it because you want me to hate myself more than I do right now?"

Her voice quivered as she spoke, and only then did he get up from her bed.

"I'm only trying to ask you for a favor." He muttered with a tight look on his face. "Can you please not tell the Duke about this?"

"What?"

"He would be beheaded for laying a finger on the Duke's daughter?" Doni answered strolling back towards her.

"Then how do I explain the scars on my face?" She asked curiously and he shook his head. "What do I tell the Duke when they ask?"

"It's nothing compared to what Alora had to face because of the Duke, in exchange for saving you, please keep the incident a secret." Rain fell silent, she was offended by Doni. "He is my friend, he has helped me countless times, and this is the only way I could save him."

"What if he comes back to do it again?"

"I will save you again." He answered confidently.

"And what if that day you're not here?" She asked curiously. "Tell me what I should do."

"I will always be here, so please be rest assured princess." He assured. "Please keep this away from the Duke."

She was about to speak again when he interrupted her.

"In exchange for that, I am going to like you back," He held her hands from the bed. "You wanted to see us as man and woman, right?"

"Yes," She answered slowly and then shook her head. "But not like this."

"I will do it," He pulled some strands of her hair away from her face. "I am going to love you like you want Rain."

He leaned into her face, and his voice came softer than before, she tried her best to resist him but once again she found herself lost in the blue hues of his eyes.

"I am going to love you, so please…" His thumb wiped away the dried blood that stuck to her lips. "Please forgive him for my sake."

He sealed their promise with a kiss, confusing her even more.