Perfect Harmony

Chapter 5

Prisca's POV

“Mama told me, I can only trust aunt Prisca.” Theo mused while hugging me. I wiped off the bread crumbs that had stuck near to his left cheek.

“Is that so? What else she had mentioned to you?.” my smile slipped. I held his hand firmly and continued our walk around the Mondaze market.

It has been two days since we arrived at Mondaze. We were fortunate enough to find a mail coach that is leaving Mondaze this evening. Hopefully, we will reach Sheridan’s tomorrow night.

Mr McNeil’s friend, Mrs Compton, kindly welcomed us into her place. She insisted on staying at her place for a rather friendly budget till we catch the coach. I understood it is not costing a great deal and accepted her offer.

Besides looking after me and Theo, Martha sometimes helped women in Mondaze for some daily cores, which caused her to earn little income. I knew that she wanted to help me and Theo somehow.

“She told me aunt Prisca is the sweetest, but… why didn’t you visit us earlier aunt?” he pouted while sniffing his fresh clothes.

Poor child! I shall buy him more new clothes when I return to Sheridan’s.

“Aunt was busy taking care of aunt’s mama and papa.” I lied to him, thinking for a while. Obviously a weak lie! Theo gave me a look filled with curiosity.

“Grandmother and grandfather…?” he stares at my face.

“Hm, your grandma and grandpa,” I reassured his remarks.

“Will they also punish me?” he let out a soft sigh before he looks down. It took a few seconds for me to understand the meaning behind his words.

“They certainly won’t. They are kind and lovely… and there is aunt Rowena, she will love you… uncle Lu…..,” I couldn’t finish my words, because I sensed someone is staring at us.

To my surprise, I had this alarming feeling from the moment we set foot in Mondaze; the suspicion that someone is watching us constantly. I turned around at once, hoping to capture a suspicious glimpse. Did I see it clearly? Did someone hide behind the shadows?

“Aunt, are you alright?.” Theo started to pull my arm.

“Yes, dear… we should move. Come fast. Perhaps no! Come here.” I lift him and held him in my arms. I started walking towards Mrs Compton’s house, taking quick steps.

“Aunt…” I heard Theo’s voice near to my ears.

“Sh!… Shh!…,”

I can hear footsteps coming closer to me. Certainly, someone is following us. Am I imagining things? I looked over my shoulder.

There is a man who wears dark colour clothes is following us. When he recognised terror in my eyes, he flashed a wild smirk at me. I know that bloodthirsty wild grin! It is not good, but why is he following us? Is he planning to attack me?

I am wearing a simple day gown. I can fight with him. Before that, I need to keep Theo in a safe place.

Suddenly, I noticed a few men are appearing from side alleys. They wear the same garments as the man who follows us! Goodness! They are certainly going to attack us. At this rate, I can’t reach Mrs Compton’s place, since two men are blocking the way to the house. I don’t care about me getting hurt, but I will not allow any harm to come to Theo. Hoping to lose them, I took a turn to the left side.

Why didn’t I notice before, these men were waiting and following us until we reach the less crowded area?

I ended up coming to a gloomy alleyway where a man was standing a few meters away from us. They circled us! They did… I held Theo tightly onto my chest while looking for an escape. Sweat trickles down my back.

“Miss, kindly give us the child. We will spare your life,”. The man who is standing in front of me stated, taking a knife out of his garments.

What… they are after Theo!

“Aunt, who… a… r… e they…,” Theo asked, lowering his voice.

“Bad people. Don’t be afraid, Aunt will protect you,”. I quickly whispered to him.

“Why do you need my child? You have mistaken us for someone else,” I raised my voice, hoping someone will hear it.

Please…! Please…!

“We don’t do mistakes, lass. And do not make foolish attempts. Screaming won’t help. No one will help you,” another man stated again.

When they start walking forward, I stepped backwards while examining the surrounding. My only possibility is fighting back. There is no escape.

I stepped backwards until my back feels the old wooden wall and placed Theo on the ground. Then I stepped in front of him, clenching my fists. I reassured Theo while flashing a lopsided grin.

“Haha… hoping to fight against us, lass? A woman…” I heard someone from the group sneering. Others laughed excessively loud.

I didn’t even bother to answer them. If I am able to open the way for Theo, he can run and hide somewhere. With that hope, I concentrate my mind on what I have been training so far with Papa and Lucian.

“Do you want to die with the child? We will grant your wish, lass. Kill them,” someone in the group roared.

I clenched my teeth. My breath became short.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but not in my presence,” I heard a deep voice coming from a side lane. A tall figure appeared from the lane, wearing elegant riding wear. I caught sight of another group of people appearing from other lanes.

When did they come? Who are they?

“Protect the child,” the man who owned the deep voice commanded his people before the black robe group come to their senses. The next thing I noticed was two groups are fighting fiercely; some were using swords, and some were hand to hand fighting.

Fortunately, no one had firearms! Yes, that’s what I thought.

Within a second, I heard a gunshot a few feet away from me. I bent and covered Theo, using my body as a barrier.

I saw from the corner of my eye the leader of the black robe group pointing a gun at us, looking viciously. I tighten my fists.

Then a person from the other group blocked him and landed a strike, causing him to throw backwards hopelessly with the gun. The gun flew away.

“Miss, this way, please. We have to move” the person who landed a strike on a black robe leader opened an escape path among the fighting men. Without complaining, I lift and held Theo in my arms. He was trembling like a sheep. I patted his back while running willingly with the person who asked me to follow him.

We came to another alley before two men block our path. Black robes again. Someone jumped on the person who was guarding us. They wrestled hard.

Suddenly a black robe man pointed his knife at Theo from sideway. I dodged it using my hand. The knife did slightly touch my upper arm on the right side. I hissed because of the pain.

A powerful ‘boom’ sound reached my ears the next minute. Theo hugged me tightly.

I saw the black robe man was running on another side of the alley while cursing.

…………………………………………………………………..

When we reached Mrs Compton’s house, I noticed there are about five to ten people are waiting for us.

“Is everything alright, Sir Rutherford?” one man came forward and inquired. He replied in an undertone.

Sir Rutherford!!! He is a knight! I am utterly confused about what is happening here.

After introducing himself, he opened the door, indicating for me to go inside.

“Please go inside, Miss Fallon. His grace will be here shortly”.

I wanted to ask about what is happening, but his expressions simply showed his unwillingness to answer me.

Martha ran over to us when we enter the house. She was trembling from head to toes. We checked on Theo first. Fortunately, nothing bad had happened to him. He was behaving maturely compared to a normal five years old child and didn’t cry until he saw the scratch on my right hand which happened in the alley.

The scratch has created a bloodstain on my right sleeve. Theo originally thought I have injured badly, so he started sobbing. Martha also went pale seeing it. For a minute, I thought she might faint. Then she cleaned my scratch and wrapped it while I was consoling Theo.

“Does it badly hurt aunt?” he climbs onto my lap. He looked at my hand with teary eyes. After all, he is still a little child! It might scare him to death. Even though I know my nephew for less than a week, I understood he adores me a lot. He trusts me a lot.

“It does not hurt, my dear.” I held him and kissed his head. He wrapped his tiny hands around my neck, leaning his head on my chest. How can I ever leave this adorable angel? Certainly, I can’t, he is already part of my life.

“What happened, miss?” Martha lowered her voice and asked.

I told her everything.

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

“Miss, these people came here with Mrs Compton and asked me not to step outside. I was worried about you… and… I couldn’t…,” Martha’s tears start running down her cheeks.

“Martha. I am happy they ask you to stay here. You know, I don’t want to see you get hurt.” I assured her. She wiped her tears slowly.

Why a group of people are after Theo’s life? Who are these other groups of people?

The door opened suddenly, and a tall figure entered the house. Behind him, I saw Sir Rutherford enter the small house. Behind Sir Rutherford, Mrs Campton and Mr McNeil also entered.

What is Mr McNeil doing here!

The man removed his hat as soon as he entered the house and bowed slightly to me. I rise to my feet and bobbed to him.

Mr McNeil stepped forward and slightly bowed to me. I notice his lips quivered.

“Miss Fallon,”

“Mr McNeil,”

“Miss Fallon, allow me to introduce you to His grace, The Duke of Wylanhilds”

I felt utter surprise at first. My expressions clearly gave off what I was feeling at that moment. Even my lips slightly parted. I could understand that by looking at the duke’s face.

“Cedric Regulus Aldrich. A pleasure to meet you, miss…” the duke introduces himself.

Oh… He is the owner of the deep voice!

“Prisca Fallon. It is an honour to meet you, your grace,” I introduce myself, trying to keep my posture. In reality, I was completely not feeling calm inside. He signed us to sit down.

Then he sat on the chair in front of us. His icy blue eyes slowly travelled around the room until they rested on Theo, who was sitting on my lap. His penetrating gaze became softer when he looked at Theo.

“Sir Rutherford,”

Sir Rutherford came forward. “Your grace,” He nodded and mumbled something to the duke. His forehead furrowed. Then they shared a glance.

What is The Duke of Wylanhilds doing here? He is indeed the topic of the Kingdom recently. The centre topic of noble families! He inherited the duke title one year ago, after returning from the borders. According to the rumours he has been serving in the borders for three years and he successfully managed diplomatic relations. Rumours also say he is not so approachable, but desirable enough to the extent that ladies want to die to get his attention. London gossips…! Rowena and her London gossips, that’s how I heard about all these rumours.

To be honest, I didn’t expect the rumoured duke to be such a good-looking young person.

“May I ask, what is the reason for your visit, your grace?” I couldn’t hold my curiosity anymore.

“I’ll come to the topic then. I am here for him,” his eyes followed the direction of Theo. His direct, bold answer caused me to shiver in my back.

“What… What do you mean by that?” my broken voice came out.

The duke leans backwards on the chair, looking at Theo again like he wants to hold him.

“Aunt, I don’t want to go with him,” Theo whimpered.

“He won’t, my dear. Aunt will not allow it,” I mumbled to Theo. It sounds like I whispered those words to myself rather than to Theo.

“I meant I am taking him with me. I wish you would cooperate,” he calmly stated. His ignorant high society behaviour annoyed me.

“What are you talking about, your grace? He is my nephew. I won’t allow you to take him. Besides, why do you need my nephew?” I broke out and pulled Theo towards me while worrying the duke will snatch him from me.

He flashed a sardonic smile. “Why are you being dramatic, miss? You are not his mother, after all. Don’t act as you love him suddenly,” said the duke.

How can a person be this rude?

“You don’t know me, your grace. And answer me, why do you need my nephew?” I insisted while giving him the same look.

“Bold indeed. Very well, he is Aldrich’s blood,” he replied, relaxing his broad shoulders like he wants to show the authority.

“Aldrich blood??? Goodness! Forgive me…” I took a failed attempt to recover proper posture.

What am I hearing? My head suddenly felt numb and dizzy. Meanwhile, I saw Theo grab a corner of my gown and desperately shift his gaze between me and the duke.

“I beg your pardon. You are telling me Theo is….” I looked at the duke, hoping he would say something. His mouth curved into an arrogant smirk.

“He is the heir of the duchy, indeed,”

My nephew is the heir of the Wylanhilds duchy! Isn’t his father a mere merchant or a mere traveller? That’s what I heard from Mr McNeil. Even Baroness Lennox insulted Theo because his father was a commoner. This man here; the Duke of Wylanhilds is telling me Theo is heir to the grand duchy.

Whom shall I believe?

Wait a minute, The Duke of Wylandhilds... Theo is heir to the duchy...That means the man who is proudly sitting in front of me is Theo’s...

This rude man… Goodness!

I rubbed my forehead, trying to absorb all uncovering shocking news.

“Goodness! You are Theo’s father…”