Chapter 67: Not gonna happen
The sun was already high when Axelius finally dragged himself out of bed, yawning loudly as he stumbled down the hallway, still feeling sore from the whole adventure underground. The night before, he had come back with Seraphina, completely knocked out.
He didn’t even remember reaching his room. Apparently, he had fallen asleep so deeply on the way back that he hadn’t heard a single thing, not even when they passed the gate or when someone changed his clothes. He only woke up because his butler Elias knocked on his door over and over, saying the duke wanted to see him now.
So here he was, in the duke’s office, arms crossed in front of him as he listened to the duke’s angry voice echoing through the large, quiet room. The duke sat behind his large desk, frowning and looking as serious as ever. Axelius knew he was in trouble the moment he saw that look.
"Your gone for a two days, and no one knew where you went," the duke said firmly, his tone cold and heavy. "You didn’t report to anyone, you left no message, and when we were all in panic, trying to find you, you just strolled back in with fruit in your hands like it was a picnic."
Axelius sighed and looked off to the side. "I left a letter," he muttered, not too loudly.
The duke frowned harder. "What letter?"
"The one I left on the table," Axelius tried to say calmly, "It said I was going with Seraphina. That I’ll be back."
The duke slammed his hand down on the table—not too hard, "There was no letter. No one saw any letter, and Seraphina didn’t say anything until she came back last night. Do you think this is a joke?"
Axelius didn’t stay quiet after that, and even though he knew the duke was serious, he felt his chest tighten with frustration because, in his mind, he really believed he had done nothing wrong. He stepped forward a little, arms still crossed, and frowned right back at the duke.