It took a long time for Duke Raven to return.

  The moment I saw him enter the hut, I immediately pressed him for an answer.

  I looked up and asked him to explain what was going on. “Duke Raven, what was that?”

  Yet, he did not take me seriously. He only acknowledged me and gave me a sign as he looked at me. “Your highness… haaaa.”

  Then, as if he were exhausted, he picked up the falling chair and sat on it facing me, who was sitting on the bed.

  And he looked at me with half-open eyes. “Why are you doing that? You screw up big time.”

  Seeing him like that, I asked back. His question did not make sense. From the beginning to the end, he did not explain anything. He only said something that made sense only to him. Yet, to me, it was incomprehensible. “What do you mean?”

  I had to say that I was truly hostile to him at that time.

  I was not sure about his position.

  Was he truly on our side? Or was he on their side?

  However, unfazed by my hostility, as if trying to evade my questioning gaze, he used both of his hands to cover his face.

  Then he lowered his face as he said that. “I wish to report to His Majesty right away, but I could not leave you alone here. We have to wait for the supply convoy next month.” He said that as if he were in grave agony.

  Seeing him like that, I was unsure how to process it.

  I knew that even if I asked him, he would not give me a satisfying answer.

  He would talk nonsense again.

  So, I tried to focus on the most important thing first.

  I asked him about the cause of today’s disturbance.

  That thing shattered the tranquility I worked so hard to achieve.

  “... Why is she here?” My tone was a bit prickly when I asked him that.

  Why, after all this time, does she only appear now?

  What was her purpose for coming here?

  What was the thing I saw?

  Why did he do that?

  Why, instead of supporting, did he stop me?

  Why did he address her in that respectful manner?

  Why did he call her ‘Lady’?

  For him, being a Duke, to call that young girl ‘Lady,’ she did not deserve it.

  Why did they bring my father up?

  What kind of deal did they make?

  Would my father be in danger?

  I had many doubts.

  I had many questions.

  I needed the answers.

  However, instead of providing me with the answers I so desperately needed, he brushed my questions aside as if they were not important.

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  “Forgive me, your highness. I cannot tell you. I was bound by the contract after all.” He lifted his face and spoke to me in an apologetic tone.

  I knew it.

  I knew he would not answer me.

  I knew he would evade it.

  He would not tell me anything.

  That was why I did not press him for an answer again.

  So, we only stay silent like that.

  Neither of us refused to meet the other’s gaze

  We looked in the opposite direction.

  We refused to see each other.

  After a long silence, Duke Raven decided to break the silence.

  He asked me a question that he had already gotten the answer to.

  “What do you think of Lady Aria?” He solemnly asked me that. He did so as if he were hoping for some miracle.

  However, my answer was already set in stone.

  Yet, I refuse to make it easy for him.

  What he has been doing to me was beyond discourtesy.

  “You should have already known it,” I said, without turning to look at him.

  I refused to see him in the face.

  Then the silence fell upon us again.

  We did not speak to each other for a long time.

  It was like a psychological warfare took place between us.

  Then, this time, I decided to ask him first.

  “Why are you trying so hard to please her?” That, too, I did not turn to look at him.

  When I asked my question, he did not answer immediately.

  He just sat there looking troubled.

  I knew that he was not sure how to answer it.

  He was trying hard to give me the answer.

  However, in the end, he did not answer my question again.

  Instead, he asked me the same question. “What do you think of Lady Aria?” I saw he gripped his hands when he asked me.

  It was really getting on my nerves. He refused to give me an honest answer again and again.

  Then he still had the nerve to ask me a question.

  “You should not answer the question with a question,” I shouted at him.

  I found myself lunging at him.

  Yet, I stopped dead in my tracks.

  I was petrified.

  Duke Raven did not respond to my outburst.

  He just silently sat there looking at me.

  He was calm, but he was not that calm.

  It was as if he were evaluating me.

  It was as if a hunter was looking at its prey.

  I was his prey.

  I was the powerless one.

  My instinct told me that depending on my following action, my life would be forfeited.

  Seeing me stopped there, just as we could see each other's faces in the other's eyes.

  He said to me with a still face. “I could not tell you, as I was bound by the contract. If you want to know, you should wait and ask His Majesty later.” His voice lowly vibrated throughout my whole being.

  It was as if he were no longer the Duke Raven I knew. It was as if he were someone else.

  He was no longer the good-natured uncle I knew.

  He was like those cold knights I met in the castle.

  When I realized that fact, I fell backward.

  I could feel my butt touching the cold wooden bed.

  I shiveringly looked at him in disbelief as I subconsciously asked him this question. “What did she do to you?”

  Duke Raven did not move from that spot.

  He did not move his body.

  His mind did not ripple.

  He was still calm.

  Then, with a low voice, he asked me. “... now answer me, what do you think of Lady Aria?”

  Although he asked me in a low voice, I felt like a beast was roaring at me.

  Facing his threat, I yield to him. I stuttered and told him what I thought about her. “... that girl is nothing but that fiend’s daughter. She is nothing better.”

  After hearing my answers, he slowly stood up as he said, “... I see. It was a mistake on our part. We should not have high hopes for you.”

  I could no longer feel the oppressive aura he emitted. Instead, I could feel this disappointment underlying his tone.

  When I saw him turn his back to me and put the chair back in its original place, as I looked at his back, I found myself able to breathe normally again.

  With that newfound liberation, I found the courage to ask him to explain what he had said to me again. “... what are you saying?”

  Since this morning, he has been talking nonsense all this time.

  From what he said, it was as if he gave up on me.

  I thought to myself at that time. Will he switch sides?

  Then he slowly walked to the entrance, and I could feel that his back had become so distant.

  Then, before he was about to pass through the door, he stopped.

  He said to me without looking back. He refused to make eye contact with me. He did not look at me.

  “Please rest here. I would like to take my leave now. I can't stand to see you right now.” He voiced it as if he were tired of everything.

  At first, I was at a loss for words when I saw him like that. I did not know how to respond to that situation.

  It was only after he left the hut that I could come to myself.

  Then, I ran out and shouted at him, demanding the answer. “Duke Raven, explain yourself.”

  However, he was already gone.

  I could only come back to the hut.

  I spent my whole day thinking about everything that happened today.

  I really cannot make heads or tails of it.

  I was really confused.

  I did not know who to turn to.

  I thought of Lilia.

  However, I knew she would not be here.

  It would be days until our next meeting.

  We promised that we would meet several days later.

  So, I was alone in the hut.

  It was lonely.

  It was dark.

  It was suffocating.

  Then, I thought of that warmth.

  I have not felt it for over a week.

  I longed for it.

  I really missed it.

  I really missed that warmth.

  Please, please help me relieve this misery.

  Anyone is fine. Please.

  Please bring that warmth back to me.

  Please.

  Please.