my life and death at stake

As I started walking towards maze exit, I involuntarily became conscious of my every move. Suddenly, I could hear every step I took, and my heart hammered so much in my chest, but I had to keep a calm exterior.

The maids scurried behind me in two neat lines, we were, after meeting the Duke, they had to be on the most professional behavior, especially considering these circumstances.

" Good day, Duke and Sir ??" I said when we arrived in front of them. I knew who Tom was, but I couldn't blatantly call him by name if I had never been introduced to him.

" Tom Hills." Tom said while Ryan didn't even spare me a glance.

" Well, Mr Hills. Pleased to meet you."

" Same to you, Miss." He said.

When he said this, the maids who had their heads down murmured behind me. I knew that they were discussing why Ryan's best friend would address me as "miss" instead of duchess, but it was okay, I did not mind. What was important here was to make it out of this garden alive because we probably heard what we shouldn't have.

As if he could read my thoughts, Tom said," May I ask what brought you here, in this part of the garden specifically?"

"I was bored and decided to pass time. And what better way to pass time than to walk around in the garden." I said as I offered a small polite smile.

Tom laughed at my response while Ryan stood still like a statue with no expression.

From beginning to end, Ryan had his eyes closed leaning against the maze wall. He did not say a word, and Tom was his spokesman.

" Don't you have better pass times in the house?" he asked after he stopped laughing

" I am afraid not. After all..." I deliberately paused to catch their attention.

"I am new to the house, and I have yet to be given responsibilities the lady of the house would be responsible for."

Ryan frowned when he heard this, but he didn't say anything. He stood there like a supporting character and let his best friend do the talking. I was partly grateful for this, but then again, it would make more rumors about our marriage agreement surface.

" Is that so?" he asked, amused probably by the fact that I boldly said this in front of Ryan. It seemed as though I was complaining that they had not yet made me a part of the Evans family, which was partly true, but my main objective was to make them forget about catching us eavesdropping.

And it was not like we wanted to eavesdrop, we were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but men like them with secrets to protect would probably not buy this excuse if I said it.

" Yes, so exploring the house is the only passer time I could do. Speaking of which, I must return to the house now. It's almost time for my daily reading time. Please excuse me, Duke, Mr Hills." I said this to quickly wrap things up and leave the space.

In as much as Tom was laughing and Ryan was silent, the atmosphere was suffocating so much that my dear maids stopped murmuring behind me.

The two men in front of us from start to finish were looking at us like a predator would a prey. They were probably planning our deaths in a way that would not attract attention from the public. To them, I bet we were already deemed guilty of eavesdropping and spying on the Duke of the kingdom because that was how things were.

In a world that is plaqued by war and many enemies on the periphery, spies were relatively common, and even the smallest action that was perceived as spying would land you in hot waters. If there was any universal rule people lived by one, it was never to be caught spying, cheating, or killing. Those were the three taboos with exceptions in the higher classes because they killed and often got away with it because of their titles. As for the rest of us people with no real power, we lived by those three.

We all quickly bowed, hoping for quick exit. But as soon as I took my first step, Ryan opened his eyes, shifted from his relaxed stance against the maze, and said

" Did I say you could go?"

I froze with my back to them , but I did not turn to face them again. Did he want to do something? Was he going to silence us? My heart, which had slowed down during my conversation with Tom, started its upbeat fast rhythm, beating like a drum against my chest.

Each time, I crossed paths with Ryan if I felt like my body would involuntarily relive my last moments in my previous life. Every time I spoke to him, I felt like my life and death were at stake, and no matter how hard I tried to mask it and convince myself otherwise, I just couldn't. My body had already imprinted those moments in my brain.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, i said,

" Is there anything else that the Duke needs?"

I prayed that he wouldn't want to dig into the eavesdropping matter because once he had convinced himself that we were guilty, there would be no way out for us. After all, I learned that the hard way.

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