Every time Dalena would encounter Andrea, she would always mention about the Duke's matters and insist that Dalena liked the Duke.

Dalena was getting tired of it so now, she avoided Andrea every time she saw her. Just now, she sighed in relief when Andrea passed by. Therefore, she proceeded to go to Little George to start her day.

For today, they were supposed to go to the horse-riding track but instead, they were oriented to go the outer part of the estate. The surroundings almost resembled a track in the mountains, with the bumpy uncemented road and lots of pinecone trees surrounding the track.

While looking around, Dalena remembered that Max, George's horse-riding instructor, did mention that the little boy was now ready to horse-ride in the uneven track so he would let him try that in the next lesson.

However, Dalena found it odd because Max was not there. As far as she knew, Max was always on time and was never late during Little George's lessons.

"Papa!" George suddenly yelled.

The sound of that name immediately made Dalena shiver and unconsciously, she looked at the direction where George was looking at.

The Duke was there, walking towards them with a calm expression. Dalena noticed the Duke's shoes first, which was different from the usual ones he would wear. Instead of formal closed shoes, he wore boots. His white long-sleeved shirt also seemed to be different since the material was obviously lighter, making it partly transparent.

Finishing his look with his usual black pants, the Duke looked like the ancient noblemen that are depicted in the movies.

"I told you, didn't I? I will be the one to teach you today." Luke said in a warm voice.

George nodded happily to Luke and even stretched out his arms, showing his happiness.

"Yeay!" the little boy replied.

As Little George insisted to put his horse-riding equipment on his own, Luke stared at Dalena, who immediately avoided his stare.

Even though it has already been a week, it was still impossible for Dalena to forget what happened last week. She was still embarrassed but of course, since she was working, she had to greet him.

"Good afternoon, Your Grace." she said in a formal voice.

Luke nodded casually at Dalena, even though she couldn't see it because she was avoiding his eyes. Then, her heart raced a little when Luke suddenly reached out for something behind her, seemingly a horse-riding equipment.

Luke's shoulder brushed a little with Dalena's so her whole body became stiff.

Luke noticed this and raised his eyebrows at her expression before turning to Little George and helping him sit on his horse.

Compared to before, the little boy was now able to raise himself up on the adult horse by himself. However, Luke was still worried so he still assisted him in case an accident happened.

Once the little boy was already set on the horse, it felt natural for him as he took the reins and started to walk the horse slowly.

"You go walk by yourself first..." Luke murmured.

With his father's signal, George rode the horse at a faster pace.

Looking at Little George's shadow disappearing into the track, Luke was not worried since they were at their estate and especially, he hired a lot of hidden guards to look over the little boy. He recruited new ones ever since Little George faced that encounter in Lonsdale Imperial Suites.

Perhaps, since that was an event because of school, the former guards did not think that much would happen and the former nanny probably tricked them as well.

His distrust on Little George's nannies grew every time as the new ones outdid the former ones at being vicious.

But as Luke looked at Dalena, he mused even more.

This woman is definitely different from the former nannies. First, it was Little George who picked her. Then, it was her honest appearance and overall temperament as well. There was something about Dalena that magnifies people to her, making them perceive that she was a trustworthy person.

At the thought of those reasons, Luke sneered in his heart. Who is he kidding? From the start, Dalena was always different from the former nannies. He has been treating her differently and giving her a lot of benefits, all due to senseless reasons.

"Do you know how to ride a horse?" Luke asked in a flash, surprising Dalena.

She shook her head. "No, Your Grace. In fact, when I first arrived in this estate, it was my first time seeing a horse in person."

Luke looked at her and was content that she was now looking back at him, not avoiding his stare.

"Since this is not a large circular track like the one from the usual location, you will not be able to see Little George. This area was designed as an imitation to the tracks seen in forests and mountains, where the path is uneven so Little George will be used to it and advance his skills."

"Oh... okay." Dalena calmly responded, even if in her heart, she was confused. She thought that the Duke was implying that she was just supposed to sit there at the track's entrance and wait for the Duke and Little George to come back.

"But you need to look out for Little George, right? So you need to ride one as well."

"Eh?"

The next moment she knew, there was another adult horse that appeared in front of them. There was only one horse there, so how was she supposed to ride it by herself. Is the Duke crazy?

Luke saw that Dalena was lost in her thoughts.

"What are you waiting for?" he said in a soft tone as he reached out his hand to her.

With the Duke's hand laid in front of her, Dalena was still perplexed but took it anyway.

Luke let out a little smile at her acceptance then in a swift motion, he put both of his arms around her waist and placed her into the horse.

It was truly Dalena's first time riding a horse and being on top just felt too scary. The horse definitely looked taller than her but now that she is on top, it is even scarier. She was really above the ground and she can't help but think that she might fall down anytime.

The Duke said that she needs to ride a horse? So she will be taught as well? But even so, Little George started learning when he was only 4, right. It took him two years to get to his level. What about her who does not have any experience at all?

'The Duke expects me to learn horse-riding in a day? Is he crazy? Maybe, he's taking revenge on me because it bothered him when I held into him on the amusement park that day?'

Luke had no idea about the frivolous thoughts that were spanning on Dalena's head as he also raised himself up to ride on the horse where Dalena was already in.

Feeling the Duke's chest directly touching her back, Dalena's body went stiff, especially when she could feel his hot breath closely reaching her ears.

"You put your hands there so you don't fall down." Luke whispered as he touched both of Dalena's hands and directed them to the saddle.

Dalena was quite nervous and panicked so she held on the saddle tighter, a little afraid.

"You cannot learn just within the day, right? But you can experience horse-riding now and just observe the movements I make." Luke whispered again, not minding how close he was to Dalena.

Dalena bit her lips, not really able to do anything at the moment.

"Okay..." she said in a small voice.

Without giving Dalena any time to prepare, Luke held the reins of the horse, almost touching Dalena's waist with both of his arms.

When the horse started to walk, Dalena was startled and thought that the experience was a bit daunting.

The horse ran so the Duke's and Dalena's body goes up and down every second, making the Duke's chest touch her back even closer.

For Dalena, it was quite intimate. She could not help but stiffen even more as she bit her lips. She really held her breath, not able to think properly.

"Let's catch up to George." Luke murmured.

As soon as the Duke said that, the horse ran even faster, making Dalena even more flustered because their bodies were colliding even more. She held onto the saddle more tightly and even closed her eyes, a little afraid of the possibility that she may fall down.

Finally, when they saw Little George riding his horse quite steadily, Duke held the reins and slowed down the speed of the horse they were riding.

Little George heard the horse's steps and looked back momentarily.

"Papa. Dalena." he called out casually.

"You're doing good." Luke praised him.

And just like that, for two hours or so, Luke and Dalena watched over Little George as he rode the horse by himself on the uneven track.

Throughout the whole ride, Dalena felt tensed and flustered.

Her reaction cannot be tamed, especially since it did not help that the Duke had a habit of staring at her directly at her eyes and just looking at her for a long, long time. She always had the courage to stare back but at the ride back then, they were just too close.

Truthfully, Dalena never dated because she was always thinking of her mother's sacrifices. She thought that she does not deserve to waste her time into things like dating, because she had to give back to her mother and her sacrifices. Besides, she just on her early 20's so she thought that she was definitely quite young to think about such things.

But due to her insufficient dating experience, she never really had that much interaction with men. Every time she would have a close encounter with any man, it would easily fluster her.

As she observed before, the material of the Duke's shirt was light so she can easily feel his chest and even though she did not want to, the insides of the shirt can be seen as well.

The Duke had a sculpted body and seemed to put a lot of effort in maintaining his shape.

As she thought of it again, Dalena blushed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

'It's only a woman's nature. It's a normal reaction.' she tried to calm her self down, thinking rationally.

Dalena felt electrified when she touched the Duke's hand once again, as he helped her get down.

She did not even look at him even though he was expecting for some kind of response, as she went straight to Little George instead.

Dalena picked up a clean white cloth and started to wipe the sweat on Little George's face. She tried to calm herself even more as she smiled at him.

However, it seems like Dalena's expression was still seen through by Little George.

"Dalena, why is your face so red? It's so red, even your ears are red." Little George said curiously.

Dalena stopped wiping Little George's sweat for a while and her eyes widened momentarily.

"Maybe because it's too hot today, my face is just a bit burned." Dalena said, rather lamely.

Little George nodded at Dalena but replied, "Hmm.. Maybe your body temperature is the opposite! It's quite windy today because it's already autumn. Not that hot and a bit cold."

"Maybe." Dalena replied simply.

But in her heart, she hoped that Little George would just stop speaking because she was embarrassed and she was certain that Luke can definitely hear them, because he was just behind her.

Well, Dalena was not wrong for sure because she was flustered once again when she heard the Duke snort a little. She did not know why, but she felt like the Duke directed that to her, aiming to tease her.

***

After the long hours of horse-riding training, the trio went somewhere to eat once again.

For today, they went to a Halloween-themed café, which is quite different to the other places they have been before. Nevertheless, the ambience of the café was still high-class and five-star worthy.

As Dalena looked at the Halloween-themed surroundings, with several ghost-like decorations, Dalena complained in her heart.

'It's only September and there's already decorations like this? Aren't they too excited?'

Little did she know, Luke was looking at her and noticed her complaining expression. His eyes immediately lit up, reminded of how Dalena seemed to despise spooky things.

It did not help that the meals they were served were also Halloween-themed, so it freaked Dalena out a little. It was already a good thing for her that the music the café was playing was not spooky, so she could still probably bear to eat the food in front of her.

Looking at Dalena's reaction once again, Luke cannot hold his laughter any longer.

"Maybe you will be scared again because of how the meal was prepared?" Luke murmured in an amused tone.

"No. I can manage, Your Grace." Dalena replied, but her lips pouting even more.

Why was the Duke getting so bold at teasing her? Dalena complained secretly as the Duke continued to say teasing remarks to her when they ate their food.