The Duke's Passion

Chapter 657 Too calm

Rufus stood motionless by the door of the study, where Fabian told him a guest was waiting for him. He didn't know who, but when he did, he froze.

Inside the study was Samael lying on the settee, eating grapes leisurely. On the armchair was Law with a bowl of grapes on his lap, and Tilly on the other armchair with a bowl of grapes as well. Standing near the window while looking at him was Leo, whom Rufus was familiar with.

Leo attended Lilou and Samael's second wedding. He was also the person who brought Samael's cousin, who brawled against them before they partied until they dropped. It was safe to say he was one of the people who had witnessed the drunk Rufus and all the shameful deeds he did.

But that wasn't truly shocking to him. What was surprising was they... these people were too relaxed!

"Do you... have any idea what happened?" he inquired when he found his voice, thinking they probably had no idea what happened. Therefore, he didn't judge immediately.

"Oh? About what Claude did?" Samael intoned, chewing a piece of grape ever so slowly. "And that Stefan abducted Lilou?"

"Sir Knight, apparently, His Grace knew everything even before Lady Tilly forced him to wake up." Fabian stood on the side near Rufus like a proper butler. "They simply chose to calm down first, since acting out of anger always had bad outcomes."

"..."

Rufus glossed over their faces, trying hard to keep his expression intact. They simply chose to calm down first? But weren't they too calm and snugly?!

A deep exhale slipped past Rufus' lips, pinching the bridge of his nose. He shouldn't stress over that now. What was important was they were aware of the situation.

"Come on, Ru. Don't stress yourself and calm down first," Samael urged, holding the grapevine up, eating a grape leisurely. "Why don't you take a seat first, eh? Instead of looking at us with those judgemental eyes."

"That's right, big brother. Have some grape," Law added.

"Fabian's harvest is good." Tilly nodded, casting Fabian a look. "Give me more."

"Leo, how were you dragged in this?" Rufus inquired, dragging his feet to one of the empty chairs to join them. He was already drained in the past four months, so he didn't have the energy to criticize these people.

"Lady Tilly and my nephew need someone to navigate their journey," Leo explained. "If I didn't come with them, they might take a year since Lady Tilly is bad with directions."

"I see..." Rufus rocked his head, as that was what he thought initially as well. He leaned back, relaxing his tensed muscles. Once again, he glanced at everyone who was enjoying Fabian's harvest.

Another sigh slipped past his lips, but this time, it was a sigh of relief. It was hard that it was just him who knew about the reversal of time. His eyes lingered on Samael. There was just a sense of relief that enveloped his heart, knowing Samael was now awake.

"You look very tired, Ru." Rufus's brows rose when Samael spoke once again, setting his eyes back at Samael. "I'm sorry I needed Tilly's help to wake up. You did a good job holding up."

Samael flashed a smile. That... finally, Rufus could breathe.

"I'm sorry I was bad in direction and very tardy, Rufus," Tilly also apologized, knowing she was the main reason they took four months. Not only she was bad with directions, but she was also easily distracted by their journey.

"It's fine, Lady Tilly." Rufus massaged his temple. "What's important now is His Grace is awake."

"Sir Knight, I heard you became His Grace's adopted son years later. I was anticipating you call him father."

"Fabian, not today, please." Rufus sighed for the umpteenth time, casting Fabian a quick look.

"Alright." The latter raised both his hands, shrugging.

"Anyway, since you are here, do you know where Claude is?" asked Samael, pushing himself up to sit up.

Rufus nodded. "Yes. When I realized about the reversal of time, I went to find the Madam at her home in Banse. Unfortunately, she wasn't there anymore and Stefan has already gotten ahold of her. So, I went to find her in the capital..." he summarized his life after the reversal of time so everyone was aware.

"Fortunately, when I returned to Grimsbanne, the earl found an opportunity to meet me. Since then, we had been working together to track Stefan and the Madam. Thanks to him, we figured Stefan wasn't in the palace, just as everyone claimed."

He paused to take a deep breath. "So far, we were able to locate Alphonse. Claude told me he planned to go to the mainland to see Tilly, but we both knew Lady Tilly will surely come. And we were correct."

"No wonder you look so exhausted. You accomplished too much whilst avoiding doing any reckless changes." Samael nodded with a proud smile plastered on his face. "Send a letter to Claude and invite him over. You guys don't need to worry. Stefan told me he would take Lilou to the Karo Kingdom."

"What?" Rufus's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Fabian, explain."

Fabian smiled when Rufus raised his eyes at him. "To make the story short, His Majesty isn't the real enemy this time, Sir Knight. It was Quentin and some people from the mainland who want the demise after several seconds of silence. "But we have a problem. I don't think she will help us without using force because she... remembers of the Grimsbanne Clan, the last original clan of their kind."

"Hah..."

"Everyone also scoffed like that, except Lady Tilly when His Grace told them what His Majesty uttered during his slumber." Fabian pointed out, seeing the conflicted emotion filling Rufus' eyes. "In any case, is Her Royal Highness Cassara alive? I do not appreciate the fact that you all share the same memories while I don't. It's not fun."

"I agree. The Fabian I know is more fun." Tilly remarked, eyes on Rufus.

Rufus remained silent, seeing that every single one of them had their eyes on him. Did Fabian say Cassara? Well...

"Yes, Her Royal Highness, Cassara is very much alive," he answered after several seconds of silence. "But we have a problem. I don't think she will help us without using force because she... remembers everything, Your Grace."

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