Memory of the Heart

Chapter 27: Garden Meeting

It seems like Luke already found an answer to his musings.

Later on, towards the end of Little George's party, Dalena helped clean up the venue with the other staff after tucking Little George into his bed.

While they were cleaning though, they had a little after party as alcoholic beverages were provided for everyone.

Dalena was not a good drinker. In fact, she has never really tried alcohol except for the occasional taste-testing, when other people urged her to drink.

'Okay, fine. Just one drink.' Dalena thought, succumbing to the wild cheers of the other staff.

"Yes, Dalena!" the people cheered.

Dalena closed her eyes and frowned deeply, not liking the bitter taste of the liquor.

However, before she could even put down her glass, another staff filled it with more liquor and the people cheered again.

"More! More! More!" they exclaimed.

Dalena sighed as she took a deep breath but smiled afterwards anyway. She has to be professional, alright? These are the people she works with and she needs to give them face at least.

Unlike the people she's worked with before though, she never knew that these people were so wild and had a very bold way of having fun.

And just like that, Dalena succumbed more and more into the people's urges, making her feel dizzy and disoriented...

***

At the same time, Luke just finished a phone call with a business partner he had abroad. It was an emergency issue that they had to talk about, so the conversation went on for a little while.

That is why, when Luke arrived at the party venue, he was surprised upon seeing Dalena.

Her styled curly hair was dishevelled along with her strapless dress, making her more alluring than she looked like before. More so, Dalena's cheeks were also flushed and she had the scent of both liquor and fresh peonies, making her somewhat irresistible.

Upon looking at the appearance, Luke's throat felt dry. But after a while, he quickly regained to his senses and talked to the other staff.

"What happened to her?" Luke asked them.

The staff looked at each other, not really knowing what to say to the Duke. Since it was only them at the estate, gossiping about their master's affair is a way to pass by time. With that, it was an open secret to them that the Duke did treat Dalena quite differently...

"Um, Your Grace, we just invited her to drink a little bit of alcohol with us... Um, have a little fun... However, we were not expecting that she has very low tolerance to alcohol..." a brave one explained.

Luke slanted his mouth, visibly upset. He can usually maintain a calm aura in front of his employees but this matter was different.

'Why did they make her in that state? Don't they know how vulnerable she is looking like that?' Luke thought to himself.

Speaking of the devil, Dalena's eyes were closed before but after hearing a familiar voice, she opened them and even walked in a sluggish way towards Luke.

"Your... Your Grace... Good evening..." Dalena greeted enthusiastically, acting unlike her formal self.

Now seeing her so up-close and even hearing her drunken voice, which made her high-pitched voice a little sultry, it did quite a lot to break down Luke's barrier of self-restraint.