Chapter 17

The butler stopped her in a hurry as he didn’t know how to respond to her firm stance and finally, bowed his head just for a moment.

“…I understand. Our Young Lady will soon be the Mistress of this house, so of course, there is a need for you to know.”

The butler carefully stepped aside and bowed his head, yet again.

“In return, you have to keep whatever you have seen inside for today as an absolute secret.”

A secret? Even though she was quite confused with the butler’s words, Vivian quickly nodded her head.

How sick is he that even his servants are reluctant to approach him? Vivian felt a surge of sympathy towards him who seemed to have everything as she hurried into the room.

However, the condition of the room’s interior seemed completely different than before.

“Your Highness…?”

Vivian was unaware that discerning the objects inside the room was as arduous as locating himself. She fumbled through the wall as she was barely getting used to the room once she had entered the unusually dark bedroom.

The curtain that had draped over the window was the same, but somehow the room was even darker than usual. Owing to that, there was undoubtedly nothing to be seen inside of the curtain that sheathed the bed and thus, making Vivian to be more careful with her own steps.

“Erggh……”

As she got closer to the bed, his groan could be heard even louder. Then, she detected some heat that was seeping beyond the curtain, which immediately made Vivian ignore all of her fears as she opened the curtain.

“Are you okay?”

“You……”

He got startled when he heard Vivian’s sudden voice, but still he managed to turn his head around and look straight at her.

“Why did you even come… here? I told you to go back already.”

“If your sickness is still the same as yesterday, then I’m perfectly fine.”

“It’s different!”

He snarled as he gritted his teeth. That sounded so similar to a beast’s growl but at the same time, it also seemed like a man who was desperately holding his own breath.

Her instinctive fright struck her at once as Vivian unexpectedly gulped down a sudden breath.

It’s just like a monster. Vivian then unconsciously recalled one of many rumors surrounding him. A monster who eats people.

“Didn’t it occur to you that the reason why they had to block the entrance for today was precisely because it is completely different from yesterday?”

“… it’s just, because I was really worried about Your Highness.”

Even so, Vivian still reached out her hand and brushed against his cheek. Her cold hands had an instant burn at the touch of his hot temperature.

His eyes were shaking heavily at her touch as they moved back and forth. Despite the fact that it was obviously hard for him to have a decent look within this level of darkness, his gaze was oddly kept on Vivian.

“…Haa. You were the one who brought this upon yourself.”

“Yes? What does that—”

Vivian couldn’t complete her words at all. She was dragged away by his firm hold that had forcefully seized her as she dropped the bouquet before he hauled her to his bed, just like that.

“Your High—eungh!”

Vivian shuddered at the shock that his lips had hurriedly found hers, but still he refused to let her off easily. He trampled over her lips before he hastily invaded inside of her. His soft tongue that was as scorching as his fever had dominated her entire mouth.

She couldn’t get a hold of herself because of his tongue that had penetrated her deeply. The fragrance of flowers that were scattered on the floor seemed to have entered from afar. She tried to wriggle her way out of his grip that was biting on her shoulders, but alas it was of no use.

The Grand Duke immediately caught on the small tongue, which intended to escape. His tongue that was sweeping through had coaxed and soothed the other shy tongue, which was in utter loss as it couldn’t escape at any cost. After ramming through her every corner, he started to ooze out his possessive means as he pleased.

“Huughhh…”

As the kiss kept prolonged, Vivian’s flailing body began to subside. It was due to; one, she was gradually getting melted by his hot kiss, but also to the fact that she had already realized that she could never escape, no matter how much she tried to struggle.

Finally, when she had let herself to be obediently confined within his embrace as well as accepted that long kiss of his, the Grand Duke then slowly opened his fully closed eyes. Notwithstanding the fact that he couldn’t really see like always, the darkness that crept into his eyes was even darker than blood itself.

“Your Highness… stop… Ah!”