Guidebook for the Dark Duke

Chapter 29 - Hunting Horror

Evan ignored the flustered Mr Johnson and went back to his room. Annoyed, he threw himself on the big bed, today’s events have really surprised him.

The first is the duke’s aggressive behaviour and Mr Johnson’s brave extortion is the second. The church’s reply hasn’t truly arrived yet, he doesn’t know when the church would send someone over and he just angrily revealed it out of anger. For now, he must first stabilize Mr Johnson with his own cards.

Evan suddenly sat up from the bed. Today is already over so tomorrow…. He must have a deep conversation with Mr Johnson.

Evan had a very fitful sleep that night, fearful that Mr Johnson would do something unexpected that would affect the whole thing this time.

Evan got up early the next morning. After he dressed up, he went straight downstairs. The breakfast was ready but it was still self-service. He doesn’t want yesterday’s dramatic scene to repeat itself so he’s glad that the guests had not come down for breakfast.

After Evan finished his breakfast, the other guests had still not come downstairs. The gentlemen and ladies of this era do not have the habit of getting up early, they would sleep till 9 o’clock before getting up. This represented a kind of superior status.

Duke Wilson was the first to come down. When he saw Evan sitting in the living room so early, he was stunned for a moment.

“Reverend, why are you up so early?” Duke Wilson had always thought that his work and rest time were earlier than that of many others.

Evan’s expression was very gentle as he smiled. “I usually do morning service so I wake up very early.”

Evan’s tone was steady but Duke Wilson was still a little embarrassed.

“You… I hope you get something from this hunt.”

Duke Wilson’s voice was a little unsteady, Evan looked at the duke in surprise, “Are you going to hunt today?”

(t/n – OK I’m confused, is it, looked “in surprise” or “with surprise”?)

Yesterday, the guests partied all night. Would they still have the energy to hunt today?

“Yes.” Duke Wilson replied dryly.

While both of them were talking, the other men and women also came down one after another. Looking uncomfortable, Duke Wilson turned to greet them.

Evan stood on the spot as he watched the duke talking to others and the discomfort in his heart became more serious.

It was already 10 o’clock by the time everyone finished breakfast. After breakfast, they all walked towards the forest behind the manor with enthusiasm.

The gentlemen have their own horses but Evan does not own a horse, so the horse he rides is a docile mare lent to him by Duke Wilson.

Evan likes this horse very much. He does not have much enthusiasm for hunting, so he only wants to be safe.

Evan has been following the duke since they entered the forest. Although he remembers the assassination, he does not remember which day it will happen so he needs to be prepared at all times.

Duke Wilson noticed that Evan was following him and for some reason, he was really happy about it. He pretended to turn his head to look at Evan but he found that Evan was staring into the void absentmindedly and he did not seem to care about anything. Duke Wilson turned his head forward and in a fit of anger, he rushed out.

Evan was just slowly wandering but he was startled when he looked up and saw that the duke had rushed out and was over 20 metres away. He quickly chased after him.

This is a mountain forest, not a flat plain. If the duke runs far, he might really be separated from him. Not long ago, Evan saw Alia among the group of ladies on horseback. If Alia rushes forward, all his plans and calculations would be wasted.

Fortunately, the duke did not really plan to stay away from Evan. After he rushed over for a few metres, he regretted it and felt ashamed. When he turned back, he saw that Evan had chased after him. Duke Wilson was happy once again and his eyes were different as he looked at Evan.

“I’m sorry, I just saw a prey.” Pursing his lips, he spoke reservedly.

Evan was out of breath but he couldn’t complain, so he could only say, “Lord Duke, I’m not familiar with this mountain forest, so please take care of me.”

This was not what the duke imagined. It’s different, but in this situation, the duke couldn’t say anything so he could only hold back the loss he felt in his heart and continue to ride forward with Evan.

The forest can be regarded as a completely natural ecology. The duke has not carried out any artificial remediation on it and he has a forest guard at the entrance of the forest to prevent burglars.

For this reason, the road is not easy to walk through. There is only a small road left from past hunts and the surrounding branches and brushes can easily catch onto people’s clothes and hairs.

Evan walked awkwardly but Duke Wilson was obviously a veteran and very handy.

Seeing Evan’s awkward appearance, Duke Wilson smiled and said, “Reverend, you can’t do this…”

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden flash of light swept out from the trees. Evan’s heart rang out with alarm and without thinking about it, he slammed into Duke Wilson and under the duke’s stunned eyes, he protected the duke with his body.

Then, he felt a sharp pain in his back, his vision turned dark and he fell into Duke Wilson’s arms. The piece of iron he’d had sown into his clothes didn’t work.

Duke Wilson’s reaction is much faster than Evan’s. When Evan was shot the first time, he quickly took Evan into his arms and rushed into the grass next to him. There were two gunshots after that, but because of the duke’s quick response, one just scratched the duke’s arm while Evan was still in his tight embrace.

Duke Wilson moved quickly between the grass, his arm still bleeding but his arm that was holding Evan was still very steady.

This was a time for hunting so others would not come even if they heard a gunshot. He had to get to a safe area by himself.

Quickly, he ran back toward the way they came from and the sound of gunfire being him gradually faded away. Duke Wilson could only drag Evan with one arm as he ran towards safety with difficulty.

He was relieved when he finally reached the open space. He looked down at Evan, whose face was pale and his calm emotions finally collapsed. He felt like the panic was like a pair of huge hands squeezing his heart.

Duke Wilson’s hand felt the wetness on Evan’s back and he was scared to look down at his hands.

He just knelt on the ground with a look of confusion, holding Evan in his arms.

After a while, he finally heard a voice and he looked up. He saw Butler Chris leading a group of people and running towards the duke.

It turns out that the horses ran back to the manor and Butler Chris noticed that something was wrong. In the end, it was this old horse that knew the way and led Butler Chris to the duke.

“Sir!” Butler Chris saw the blood on the duke’s body from a distance, he ran over with a pale face and knelt beside the duke.

“You….you…” His hands trembled, barely daring to touch the duke.

Duke Wilson looked at Butler Chris with an ashen face, his lips trembling as he spoke, “Save him!”

His voice was short and low. If it weren’t because the butler was close to him, he wouldn’t have heard him.

Butler Chris saw Evan with a pale face in Duke Wilson’s arms. “Reverend Bruce!” He exclaimed, “What the hell is going on? My Lord, are you injured?”

Duke Wilson squeezed a sentence through his teeth, “I’m fine, save him!”

Butler Chris has never heard the duke speak this way, like a ferocious beast but also a sense of despair with no way out.

“Sir…” Speechless, Butler Chris stared at the duke in a daze.

Dr. Hester, who came late, had caught up. He had been in the manor and he came out with the butler.

With wrinkled brows, he snatched Evan from the bewildered duke’s arms. Immediately, he found where Evan was injured, tore his clothes and took a general look. Quickly, he pressed down on the bleeding wound with a towel, “The wound is not deep, it should not hurt the heart or lungs. Hurry up and send the Reverend back!”

Dr. Hester’s words were more effective than others and the duke finally came back to his senses. He put Evan on the stretcher that the servants brought and two servants carried it as they ran towards the manor.

On the way, Duke Wilson’s face was so terrifying that no one dared to approach him. He pressed the towel on the wound on Evan’s back with one hand as he stared at Evan. No one dared to look at him directly.

When they got back to the manor, almost none of the people who had gone out had come back. Mr Johnson was the only one in the living room because he had woken up late. He stood up quickly when he saw the blood-stained crowd rush in, the pipe in his hand fell to the ground.

Duke Wilson ignored Mr Johnson as he picked up Evan from the stretcher and walked to the second floor.

Mr Johnson frowned as he watched the duke hurry away. If he wasn’t mistaken, the person in the duke’s arms just now was Reverend Bruce.

When he thought of this, Mr Johnson’s mind somehow came up with an idea that If he were dead, all his troubles would be solved with such a small step. Mr Johnson was startled by his own thoughts.

He looked towards the duke’s room, the duke just carried Evan into that place.

If, let’s say if, Mr Johnson hopes that the righteous Reverend can stay there forever and never come out again.

For the first time in his life, he wished as his middle finger hooked his index finger. He was really looking forward to this happening.