When Heidi returned back from the town, she went up to her room and locked it before going through her trunk, rummaging through the clothes to find the bottle Duke Scathlok had given her. Taking it with her, she went to her bathroom. Though she had taken it, she had never meant to use it and if she wasn"t going to use it there was no point in hiding it. With that thought in mind, she opened the cork of the bottle very carefully as she didn"t how poisonous the liquid in it could be. She poured the liquid into the drain to see it melt the ground slightly around it before disappearing down out of sight. She stared for a few seconds before pouring water around to make sure no residue of the liquid was left behind.
Heidi washed her hands and left the bathroom, toweling her hand dry. Putting the little bottle back in her trunk she poured herself a gla.s.s of water from the jug before taking few sips. As she walked towards the balcony she felt a piece of weight on her chest had been lifted. With the contents of the little bottle emptied she had nothing to worry when it came to the Duke. All she had to do was stay here at the Rune mansion and no ill would befall her, thought Heidi to herself.
A yawn left her mouth which she tried to cover with the back of her hand. Leaning her upper body forward whilst holding the rails with both her hands, Heidi looked at the outline of trees with the sky as a backdrop. She caught sight of the butler talking to someone who had his back faced to her. The blonde curls seemed familiar to her but she couldn"t put her finger whom it could be. As both the men spoke, the man turned to his left, revealing his face which was enough for Heidi to recognize. She looked at him with eyes that had turned wide in shock and question. What was Noah Arendel doing here? She saw them heading towards the forest and she knew it wasn"t good news. The forest was where the dungeons resided. Noah had done nothing wrong and surely the lord of Bonelake wasn"t a petty man to punish someone for no reason, she reasoned in her mind. Noah was a local boy who even with his good looks couldn"t have such high connections that reached the lord. Not waiting another second, she ran down in speed to only slow down her footsteps when she saw Nicholas walking by. Ready to call out his name, she opened her mouth to realize there were servants who were cleaning the sides of the walls.
"Lord Nicholas!" she called him to see him turn in her direction with a brow raised at her.
"What is it?"
Making her way to where he was, she asked frantically, "What is Noah doing here?"
"Noah?" the lord feigned ignorance.
"Yes, Noah. The shovel boy as you call him. What is he doing here?" she repeated her question.
"Ah, the shovel boy. He came here for a small visit and we had tea. Shall we move this discussion in the study room?" he suggested.
"No," Heidi whispered, "Let"s talk here. Right now," she didn"t know where Stanley had taken Noah but if it was really the dungeon she didn"t want to waste time. Nicholas stared at her for a few seconds and then snapped his fingers to gain attention from his servants. Waving his hand for them to leave, both Heidi and the Lord waited until the servants had left the area.
"I was curious so I invited him for tea. Nothing else," Nicholas spoke first.
"Curious about what? And why did they walk towards the forest?"
"My. Can"t a person be curious and invite a person for tea? What has happened to people," he tsked, "And Stanley told he would make sure to send the boy home safe."
"I am serious, Nicholas. Noah has nothing to do with anything, he is a good man so please don"t do anything to him. There has been really nothi-" Nicholas who had stalked her, cornering her against the wall hit his fist making her stop talking abruptly. Heidi didn"t need to turn to her side to see there was a fresh dent on the wall and instead felt her heart leap at the sinister smile on his face.
"Do you care for him more than you care for me?" he asked her softly.
"What?" she asked him confused for a second.
"You get so protective about the boy that it is making me envious. It is as I said, I was merely curious about the boy and I called him for a little chat. I asked Stanley to send him home but now I want to tear his heart out," his words were so calm that it was scaring Heidi at the thought of him doing exactly what he spoke.