A servant walked into the conference hall, his head lowered and quite anxious.
The people sitting in the conference were all dignitaries, and even the Emperor's aide was there.
These were people whom regular people could not afford to speak with, and we, such, there was so much pressure on this poor servant.
It looked like they were discussing a very serious matter and yet a servant dared to walk in and interrupt.
The Duke, the Lord of the Alaric Duchy, spotted the fidgeting servant and asked,
"What's the matter?"
"W-well," he stuttered, unsure if to speak out in front of these important people but his hesitation upset them more.
"Duke, it seems your servants do not know what respect means?" One of them stated.
"If they interrupted our important meeting just to stutter and tremble, then isn't this an insult to us?"
They spoke, criticizing and defaming, but the Duke did not respond. He seemed unaffected. Bored, even.
His cold and indifferent expression remained, staring at the servant, still waiting for his words.
"Are you done?" He asked and this shocked them. Even the Emperor's aide, who had been quiet, was taken aback.
Yes, the Duke was known to be unruly and respected no one aside from the Emperor but wasn't this too much?
Was the unknown message from a servant enough to shut down the power houses under him?
The Duke looked at the servant and asked,
"Will you speak now? No one will interrupt you."
He seemed kind, but he was definitely not the kind type so this made them wonder what he was up to.
Was this some sort of ploy to get out of the meeting? They wondered.
The Duke knew the servant. He was someone serving his son's tutor. So, if he were here, then it meant the tutor wanted to pass on a message.
The thought that the tutor sent him made him excited but not so much since he didn't want to end up disappointing and getting a foul mood.
But as the Duke stared at the trembling servant, he saw him as inadequate and thought inwardly, 'He's too scared. Should I replace him with someone more capable?'
His patience was thinning as he tapped his index finger on the desk, a second at a time, with his other hand resting on his face, holding the weight of his head as he lazily waited for the servant to speak.
It looked like he wasn't going to speak and would pee his pants instead.
'Did I really have someone so weak working in my household?' he wondered.
Though he never paid attention to the personnel—he paid attention to nothing entirely—he didn't think things were this bad.
He stopped tapping and came to a decision.
'Lets get rid of him.' his deadly blue eyes spoke louder than any words could. "Well—"
"I'll apologize," a different voice spoke up, the direction coming from the door and they all turned.
Who was it this time?
In walked a man with a straightened back and a professional mask of perfectionism.
As soon as the Duke saw who it was, he lifted his head, his eyes lighting up, replacing the murderous gaze he had just now with something warmer and softer.
"My servant isn't well outspoken, though he handles numbers and numerics well. He serves as a great assistant, you see."
The man who came in had two odd eyes, on the left was purple, and on the right was blue.
He was the rumored man, wasn't he?
The one said to have lit the interest of the Duke who showed no single interest in anything since his wife died.
But even then, what right did he have to interrupt their meeting?
"Since you seem eloquent, why don't you answer this?" A bearded Lord asked, his hostility directed at the man that just walked in. "Who gave you the right to interrupt your Lord when he is in an important meeting? Do you know the positions that each of the men in this room hold?"
The man was a teacher, a tutor to the Duke's son, so they believed he had no reason whatsoever that could make him interrupt their conference.
But the man did not seem intimidated. Instead, his eyes roamed the room, staring above their heads and then bowing his head.
"Once again, I'll apologize." He said.
The Duke silently watched. He did not seem upset, neither did he seem happy. The light in his eyes remained, but it flickered when he watched the tutor bow his head repeatedly.
"If you know what you did wrong for barging in with no valid reason then get out. Why are you still here?!" His words were harsh but still... They were not enough to faze the tutor.
"I didn't say I didn't have a valid reason." The tutor said, his eyes firm and sharp, and this provoked them.
He did not delay any longer, his gaze falling on the Duke and then he said,
"The Duke specifically asked me to come." He said.
"What?"
"Right now, it is thirty minutes past two."
"So?"
"It's past lunchtime." The tutor said. "And the Duke said to remind him, no matter what he is doing, if he's thirty minutes late for Lunch. And here I am, carrying out my order and reminding him to have his lunch."
The hall went stiffly silent for a while, save for the stifled laughter of the Duke.
He was doing his best to hold it in but he couldn't and eventually let it out.
He laughed so heartily that they were shocked.
"Did you hear that?" He asked, slamming his hand on the desk. "It's currently lunch time. So, the meeting is dismissed for now."
This stunned them.
"L-Lord Duke!"
"You can't just..."
"Oh, it's fine. Next time," he stood up, his gaze falling on the Emperor's aide and then all the others who had dared to bare their fangs at the tutor. He narrowed his eyes, holding a grudge they could see very clearly. "...make sure the meeting does not clash with meal times. I have to be on time so I can eat with my son, after all." He laughed and walked away, leaving them all dumbfounded.
The tutor followed after him and tailed right behind him until he noticed the Duke was not heading towards the dining hall.
"Wait, Duke, this..."
"Shhh!" He grabbed the tutor's hand and hurriedly led him into the first door they came across.
There, he slammed the Tutor's back to the door, lightly and then dropped his head on his shoulder, his hands on his waist and a little chuckle escaped his lips.
"You know... I don't think I can stay more than an hour without seeing you anymore." He said. "I grow bored when you're not near and..." He raised his head and brushed his nose over the Tutor's. "...I just want to hold you."
The tutor looked into his eyes, their bodies joined together and their breaths mixing into each other.
'I know.' The tutor thought, his grip on the Duke's shoulder tightening and then he leaned in so their lips would touch. 'I know all too well how you feel because...' he opened his eyes, looking over the Duke's had at the staggering translucent affection meter that displayed the number 98.
Right at this point, the Duke's affection level towards the tutor was 98 and due to that, the Duke was madly in love with the tutor.
'With this, my safety is forever guaranteed.'
How is it that the Duke, the Emperor's younger brother, ended up loving his son's tutor to this point of no return?
And... What exactly is the tutor's goal?
This all began two months ago...