Melissa, finally, after what felt like an eternity, escaped from the clutches of the Duchess Margaret, Lucien’s mother. She learned the duchess’s name from the woman herself. Melissa had felt so embarrassed that she did not even know the name of the duchess of the very duchy she lived in.
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How could she have known her name? She had not heard much about the duchess, other than the fact that she had once been a commoner, just like Melissa. That was it, the only thing she knew.
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In her small village, she had heard tales of the Northern Duke and his son, the Northern Blade, but even then, she had never learned their names. She had only heard of how powerful they were.
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But, thankfully, the duchess was quite the opposite of what Melissa had expected from someone in such a powerful position. The duchess appeared rather kind, with sparkling silver eyes—eyes that Lucien lacked even one percent of.
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Melissa could still hear the duchess’s laughter from when she, in embarrassment, confessed she did not know the duchess’s name and only knew the duke and their son by their titles.
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And, like teaching a child, the duchess took her hand and told Melissa their names. It was simply Margaret. She was an orphan and had never held a surname. Only after marrying the duke did she become Margaret Duskbane. The duke’s name was David Duskbane, and the Northern Blade’s name was Lucien Duskbane.
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Melissa had repeated their names in her mind thousands of times by now. She did not want to forget their names after all the effort the duchess had put into teaching her.
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During their conversation—or rather, during the duchess’s talking, as Melissa mostly nodded along—the duchess would repeatedly ask about their names, teasing Melissa as if she might have forgotten them. But Melissa was not a child who forgot names so easily. She only ever forgot the names of people she did not like. Since the duchess was kind and loving, she remembered all of their names.
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Hmph, how could the duchess think I would forget their names? Melissa snorted to herself. She did not like being teased that way, but there was no malice in it, so she decided to be the bigger person and let it go.
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The duchess also kept enquiring about Melissa’s childhood, her parents, her village, and whether she had any sort of love life. She seemed quite interested in knowing what kind of boys Melissa liked.
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Melissa could feel her cheeks turning pink, just imagining how the duchess had persistently pestered her about Lucien being strong, charming, and handsome. Melissa regretted ever telling the duchess that she liked charming, strong, and handsome men.
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The duchess had taken that to heart and kept insisting that Lucien fulfilled all of Melissa’s criteria. She even spoke fondly of Lucien’s achievements and shared that his previous engagement had been broken off. The duchess did not reveal the full story, but only told her that the previous engagement had been broken and that he was now free to marry anyone.
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Melissa kept nodding at the duchess's enthusiasm, much like a mother nods along to her child’s curious stories, not wanting the child to know she has heard them countless times before. In truth, Melissa had not heard these things before; most of what the duchess said was new to her. Still, it was a similar feeling—a mother nodding to her child.
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What kind of metaphors am I coming up with? I do not even have a child yet, Melissa thought, feeling embarrassed at her own comparisons.
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Melissa knew the duchess was clearly trying to test the waters, trying to find out whether Melissa liked Lucien or not, and she kept asking how Melissa felt about him.
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Melissa could feel that the duchess truly loved and cared for Lucien. Her sincerity and worry, despite how hard the duchess tried to hide them and keep the atmosphere from turning gloomy, were evident during the conversation. Alas, if only Lucien did not have that gloomily dark heart.
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Melissa slapped her cheeks, realizing she was letting herself get caught in the duchess’s trap. She knew she did not like Lucien. Yes, he was handsome and charming, and strong, very strong. But his black heart did not suit her personality. The duchess still brought up the topic of whether she liked Lucien, even after Melissa revealed she was a commoner.
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She thought the duchess was cool and broad-minded for being willing to let Lucien marry a commoner. After all, the duchess herself had once been a commoner. At least she was not a hypocrite.
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Melissa did not hide anything from the duchess and told her honestly that she had met Lucien only yesterday and had no particular feelings for him. She explained that she had only heard tales about him, had never seen him in real life before yesterday, and had never even visited Norwind before.
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Truth be told, Melissa found Lucien extremely handsome—more than anyone she had ever seen. Even the heroes in her childhood picture books had never been as handsome as Lucien, but she kept this to herself and did not reveal everything to the duchess. Some things were better left unsaid.
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Melissa covered her face with her hands. She sighed, thinking about how embarrassingly she had acted in front of Lucien. First, she had been frozen in her seat when she saw him standing at her kitchen door, and then she had ended up falling asleep on his back. She did not know why, but she had let her guard down when she was on the horse's back and had fallen asleep during the journey to Norwind. She had thought the ride would take longer and be bumpy, but whether it was Lucien’s skill at riding or the horse itself, the journey was so smooth that she felt no trouble at all and reached the palace early in the morning.
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Melissa sighed at how defensive she had been at first when Lucien appeared at her kitchen door, but on the journey, she had let that defensiveness slip away completely. Perhaps it was because of the oath, or because she did not detect any lies in his words. Whatever the reason, she let her guard down in front of Lucien and ended up sleeping on the way to the palace. She did not know the true answer to that.
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She shoved all these thoughts aside and turned to look through the windows at the garden outside the palace as she walked down the hallway. She had only managed to slip away from the clutches of the duchess when the Duke—the Northern Duke himself appeared. The Northern Duke was terrifying. She had previously thought Lucien was the only intimidating one, but it turned out Lucien's father was even more formidable; he was the real deal. She could tell by the aura he carried; it was not a deadly, killing aura, but it was suffocating all the same. Yet, unlike Lucien, who held back from crying, the duke ended up weeping when he saw the duchess healed body.
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Melissa hurriedly ran away from the room; the butler guided her out. But the butler only guided her out of the room and stood outside. He did not even tell her where to go; well, it was mostly because she was so shocked when she saw the duke that she ran immediately to the hallway.
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Melissa sighed at how cowardly she had acted, but she could not help it—the duke, one of the most powerful people in the empire, had been there. How could she not be afraid?
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Melissa sighed again; she had sighed umptenth time by now, and now that she had some time alone, she looked at her hands. Something inside her had awakened when she healed the duchess, and now her hands were vibrant and white, just like those of the rich ladies who had visited the village years ago. Her hands had once been rough with calluses from working in the fields, but now they were gone. Her hands were so beautiful, so mesmerizing, that she touched her cheek and marveled at their softness.
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Melissa approached the hallway window and tried to see her reflection. Though the window was not as clear as a mirror, she could make out her golden-yellow hair, her eyes still black, and her skin now glowing with a youthful luster and vibrant beauty. She had always known she was beautiful, but she gasped at how much more beautiful she had become. The golden hair complemented her appearance perfectly.
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Melissa placed her hands on her cheeks and was surprised at how soft and plush they felt. Before, she had only noticed the softness of her hands, but now she realized both her hands and cheeks had become soft. She closed her eyes and sensed that the mana core within her body had changed as well. What was once a black mass of unpurified mana was now gray, purified of the impurities it had previously contained.
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She had ranked up and could feel she had reached the Elite rank—not just Elite, but the upper stage of Elite. Her core, which was now gray, was slowly turning red, with red blemishes forming around it. From the books she had read, she knew this meant she was now in an Elite [Upper] stage.
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Melissa jumped high in the sky jovially, her lips curling into a wide smile.
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But she soon found herself being bumped into something. It was sturdy like a wall, but not hard enough to hurt her, so she knew it was not a wall.
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She recognized this feeling; it was the same sturdiness she had felt when she tried to close the curtains in the morning. She opened her eyes, and her joy quickly turned to horror as realization dawned on her. She turned her head and saw Lucien standing behind her, his hands perfectly placed in his pockets.
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Lucien was eyeing her as if he had caught a child doing something embarrassing. And she realized, with a flush of embarrassment, that she really had been acting like a child until now.
