Chapter 96
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96
The Duke’s eyes, fixed on the old butler, were unnaturally calm. It was the same look he’d worn at eight years old—on the day his parents died in a scandal, when reporters had swarmed as thickly as mourners under the pouring rain.
“…My concern simply got the better of me.”
Norman decided to bury his lingering suspicions. The Duke was soon to wed a woman suitable in every way.
“It was only because this is the first time you have kept a woman so close, Your Grace.”
In his eyes, Lady Vanessa was lacking in many ways as a partner for his master. While she was undeniably beautiful, the mistress of Battenberg was a position that required far greater virtues than mere physical appearance.
Theodore stared at the stubborn old man’s face. A faint sense of unease hovered just out of reach. It was clear Norman was hiding something, but his motives remained entirely elusive.
“Return to the main estate and await my judgment. You may leave.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Turning his back on Norman, Theodore loosened the tie that felt as if it were choking him. He tossed it onto the pile of newspapers and calmly surveyed the ruined room. The drawing room, left untouched on his orders, looked like a crime scene.
Theodore slowly retraced Vanessa’s steps in his mind. He could easily guess her train of thought. She had seen the newspapers and immediately noticed the dates had been cut out.
Realizing her information was being controlled, she must have looked for an excuse to go outside. From there, it had likely taken her less than five minutes to decide to injure herself. He lightly nudged a clean slipper in the corner with the toe of his boot; it was completely dry, without a single drop of alcohol on it.
He placed an unlit cigarette between his dry lips. She had always been like this—seemingly gentle, yet prone to reckless, headstrong defiance. It was why, whenever he looked at her, a heat would rise in him that bewildered even himself.
“Oh.”
Though he had heard her light footsteps approaching, Theodore only raised his head then, as if just noticing her presence. Vanessa stared at him, her face pale with surprise. She clearly had no idea he would be here.
“Mr. Norman just left, so I thought no one was here.”
The panic on her pale face quickly melted away. Vanessa cast an anxious glance at the glass shards still scattered across the floor. Her gaze lingered a moment longer on her slipper, which was touching the toe of his boot.
“When did you get here?”
“Just now.”
Theodore crushed the unlit cigarette in his fist and closed the distance between them before she could react. The moment his eyes fell on the bandage wrapped around her left foot, a cold, irrational fury gripped him.
He bent down, slipped his arms beneath her knees, and scooped her up. Startled, her body went rigid. Vanessa didn’t even think to wrap her arms around his neck for support, so Theodore pulled her tighter against his chest.
“I can walk.”
“You’re hurt. If you need to move, use me.”
“…You want me to use you as a tool, just to get around?”
“Why not?”
“I’m sorry for touching your liquor without permission.”
Theodore raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift in conversation. Her downcast eyes, unusually docile today, grated on his nerves.
“Why are you being so cooperative?”
“Does apologizing now count as being cooperative?”
“It’s not that, but…”
He gently laid her on the bed, helping her lean against the headboard and placing a cushion beneath her knees. Only then, as she relaxed, did a faint trace of color return to her pale face.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he studied her. Her eyes, which had grown noticeably hollow, bore no trace of tears, not even dried ones. She had gone out and even met Hailey Morton, so she must have heard the news of his engagement.
He had expected her to either demand answers or break down in tears and anger. After all, she had told him she loved him. It was just like his parents’ relationship, which had started to warp at some point. Yet Vanessa remained as still and silent as someone who had resolved never to ask another question.
Does she really love me? The sudden doubt brought a hollow laugh to his lips. It was absurd. He had guarded himself so fiercely against repeating the tragic cycle of ‘love,’ yet he had absolutely no intention of letting go of this woman who had long since crossed his boundaries. He gently brushed his fingertips through the long golden hair spilled across the bed.
“I thought you would have questions for me.”
“There was something I wanted an explanation for.”
A cool, sharp intelligence flickered briefly in her sunken gray eyes. But in the next instant, the light died, sinking back into the depths. Her long, lowered eyelashes cast dark shadows over her hollow cheeks.
“But… I won’t ask. I’ve decided not to.”
Her pale fingers reached out from the shadows, resting gently on the back of his hand. Theodore’s dark blue eyes wavered violently in the dim light. It was the first time since they had left the Garden of May that Vanessa had initiated any form of physical contact.
“Decided?”
“I’ve made up my mind.”
He held his breath, staring at her dry, chapped lips, ruthlessly crushing the sickening hope that dared to sprout within him. But the moment her fingers intertwined with his, he stopped thinking. He pulled her slender body down, trapping her beneath him.
“Keep talking, Vanessa. Tell me what you’ve decided.”
The innocent way she looked up at him was maddeningly beautiful. As she met his gaze without flinching, the sight of her red-rimmed eyes made his chest tighten. Perhaps we still have a chance. A fleeting, futile hope flared within him.
Her small, slightly parted lips trembled. She let out a breath that sounded like a sweet whimper.
“You… already know…”
He caught his breath, startled by his own reaction, before letting out a low laugh. The unfamiliar wave of relief washing over him was utterly absurd.
They were living on borrowed time, suspended by the paltry excuse of their remaining contract. He had often wondered how far he would go if she truly tried to say goodbye when it ended.
In the dead of night, he would resolve to chain her to his side by any means necessary. In the bright light of day, he would force himself to swallow those hideous desires. Some days, his obsession deepened without limit; other days, he paced in circles, trapped by the boundaries he had set for himself. He had suppressed his urges like a beast bound by a short leash.
But one thing was certain: they were warping beyond salvation. Him, her, and the days they had left. He had resigned himself to the thought that they would slowly rot and sink like a shipwrecked vessel. He had braced himself to spend the rest of his life enduring her hatred. Yet, the very moment he finally accepted that this was all they had left, she had reached out to him.
“…”
Of course, the dissonance was glaring. Such a sudden change of heart was unnatural. For a woman professing love, her eyes were far too anxious, and every flicker of her gaze and curve of her lips felt staged.
And yet, her promise to stay by his side was so agonizingly tempting.
“Don’t you want me to?”
Vanessa stared up at the man looming over her, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She was glad she couldn't see his face clearly in the dim light. It meant he wouldn't be able to see hers, either.
Hailey Morton’s words hadn’t truly registered with her. Continue acting as his mistress while biding your time for the right moment to leave. Did Hailey really think Vanessa would meekly obey after she had threatened her child’s safety? And yet…
“Why the sudden change of heart?”
Because I finally see you for what you are—someone who will never let me go, even if we both wither and die.
A suffocating desperation seized her; from now on, everything had to be flawless. Steeling herself not to make another mistake, she looked up at him.
“Just because. I wanted to see what it would be like to treat you carelessly.”
“…”
“You’ve always let yourself be caught so easily.”
“How completely should I let you have me?”
“Completely.”
The look in his eyes shifted as he gazed down at her. Vanessa reached up, placing her hand on his thick, sinewy forearm. She traced her fingers upward, resting them against his throat, where his Adam’s apple bobbed.
“I want all of you.”
“Is that your condition?”
Her condition had only ever been one thing. She had wanted him to have no other woman. She had wished that Hailey Morton was not his long-time lover but merely a partner in a marriage of convenience. She had hoped that, one day, she might become his only love.
It was a pathetic, miserable hope she could never bring herself to utter aloud.
“Yes.”
Her breath trembled as it slipped past her red lips. It was just like the moment she had confessed her love to him—perhaps even more desperate. Part of her wished he would reject her. If he did, she could stop everything right here.
She had hoped to reject him when he admitted he couldn't give her everything, to declare the end of their contract, and to bring a peaceful close to it all. But…
“I accept.”
The tears Vanessa had been holding back finally spilled over. Her fingertips turned white as she clutched the fabric of his shirt. Her lips curved into a brilliant smile, as if desperately wishing his words were true, even as her eyes betrayed that she didn’t believe him in the slightest.