Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 6 - The Intruder

The woman had her arms crossed as she looked Luke up and down, unimpressed. Luke made sure to avert his eyes and cover his mouth. He was glad that his Master had bothered to spray cologne just moments ago, otherwise his scent would have been a dead giveaway. 

Stepping to the side, she began circling the room, taking in the bare confines and the lack of decoration. He knew she probably found it strange, but she didn't say anything about it as he continued to wait nervously.

"So...This is where you live." She said in a bored tone. "No wonder you tried to hide it."

With one loud gulp, Luke estimated his chances of escaping were slim to none. "Y-yes..."

She quirked an eyebrow, her red braid flipped over her shoulder and exposing a long, delicate neck. At first glance she appeared relatively disarming, but Luke knew better. He had seen her in full armor back at the mansion and was certain that she could level a building if she wanted to.

Huffing disdainfully, she spun around and pinned Luke with a glare. "I'm going to get straight to the point. I need your help."

If he were not looking away, she would have noticed the dumb look that dawned on his face. "You need...My help?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." She snipped, eyeing the ceiling with a hand on her hip. "Do you know that you are the only person that my Master has ever willingly obeyed in two hundred years?"

"..."

"I'm talking to you!"

Luke jumped. "Sorry, but I don't know what you mean."

She squinted, trying to determine if the human was fooling around or being honest. Eventually she seemed to decided on the latter. "On the Yacht. Nicholas was set on killing the captain, but you stopped him. Never before had he even considered sparing a traitor's life like that."

"I...No...Wait...I don't think he did it just because I ordered him to?" Luke's voice became quiet and uncertain as he tried his best to respond properly without letting her get a good look at himself.

The woman tilted her head. "Why else would he spare the captain? The punishment for treason is death. There was no need to wait since the Archduke would have the final say in the trial anyways. Yet you had the audacity to grab him and tell him to stop. If it had been anyone else who had done that, they'd have lost their hand, but not you. He actually listened to you."

Luke thought back to the look of terror on the captain's face and shivered. "I just didn't want to see anyone else get hurt..."

"Well too bad, because many more people are about to be 'hurt' soon." She scoffed and resumed her pacing. "The first night I was assigned to guard you I was told the two of you met right after his carriage accident. Do you know the details surrounding that event?"

Luke shook his head.

"Baron Taylor had come to visit the Archduke and insisted on a night of tomfoolery. The Baron had been a long time friend of my Master's, so the Archduke trusted him and was caught off guard when his meal was tampered with. The effects of the drugs didn't kick in until he had gotten into his carriage and passed out. As it turns out, Baron Taylor had been in close contact with the Emperor for the past year. What's more, he was listed to be promoted to Viscount for unknown reasons. We suspect that the Emperor had hired him to kill Sir Nicholas in exchange for the new title."

The human's eyes widened and he backed up against the window trying to take in the new information. "But why would the Emperor try to kill Nicholas? Don't they work together?"