“You shouldn’t have teased me so much.”

He put her on the bed and whispered as he looked down on her.

His blue eyes were burning with flames that could be either passion or anger. She looked away from his hot glare.

“You were tempting me just a minute ago, and now you’re playing innocent again?”

“It, it was just… your reaction was so funny…”

“Huh.”

She had had fun while he was being tortured?

“I must punish you for teasing me.”

She had never seen him so enraged. Well, she did admit she had taken it a bit too far. His burning eyes pierced into her soul while she closed her eyes.

She cringed in fear as he came nearer. But to her surprise, what touched her were his hot lips.

He kissed her deeply, taking her breath away. It made her feel so dizzy. She hadn’t known he would give her a kiss as her punishment.

“Are you scared?”

He asked, carefully caressing her forehead. Rubica thought about it, but she shook her head. She was nervous, but she wasn’t afraid.

“I can hear my heart beating fast. My body is hot as if I had a cold, and I don’t know what to think. But, but I don’t want you to stop.”

She had never craved for someone like this. She wanted to make him hers, right here, right now.

“Me too.”

He whispered and slowly put a hand on a strap of her dress.

However, despite how much he wanted to undo it, it got even more intertwined, and he ended up making a strong knot with it.

“Ha!”

Rubica burst into laughter and realized he had never done this before as well. Oh, he had to be so nervous and worried.

“Maybe we should call it a night and just…”

But then, he ripped off her dress. The playful mood turned hot in no time. She was surprised every time his hands touched her, but she followed her instinct. He was grateful that she was getting ready to accept him even in fear. She was so lovely.

“Tell me if you are too scared.”

Edgar wished he had a lot of experience in this, but it was his first time. He couldn’t lie to her by saying she had nothing to be afraid of.

“Well, will you stop if I say I’m scared?”

She asked, breathing a little heavily. He nodded.

‘Oh, he’s such a gentleman.’

He was always proud and gave orders coldly, but he never crossed the line.

“But then I won’t be able to tell you even if I’m scared. Edgar, I’m fine with it, as long as it’s you.”

She was always the one who found courage first. She led and he started to follow her.

Soon, they slowly became one. It was happiness neither of them had experienced before.

“Rubica.”

“Yes?”

He beggingly called her, still looking at her. Each time, she gladly answered to his call.

An indescribable satisfaction filled her while she hugged his broad back.

“I love you.”

And that was the best thing she could say to express the joy she was feeling.

***

As the man who abducted the missing duchess was the family’s guard captain, none of the people at the mansion had been able to get a wink of sleep ever since they heard about it.

They just waited for news, hopefully for good news, but then the carriage of the duke and the duchess arrived in the middle of the night.

“Your Grace!”

With so many lights and lamps, it was as bright as daytime. As soon as the carriage came to a stop, the lab’s director and the vice guard captain ran to it.

They were extremely worried as they had been told Edgar had hurt his legs.

“You’re surprising the duke.”

Carl came off the servants’ carriage and stopped them. Ann and the family’s doctor followed him. Before they left, they had agreed with Edgar to announce the duchess had miscarried her baby when surprised by Stephen.

“Your Grace, we’ve arrived.”

No answer came, just as they had promised. Carl looked at Ann, silently telling her to be ready.

The duke was now going to be heard shouting in surprise, and the two were going to run in there, find what they had faked, and pretend to be shocked.

As Ann always excelled at making a fuss, she was perfect for the job.

“Your Grace, Your Grace?”

However, even after knocking on the door so many times, they got no response.

Carl was startled. What if something had happened during the journey? He should have at least made a servant stay with them even though the duke made it clear he wanted to be alone with his wife.

“Your Grace, I will open the door.”

“Wait.”

Carl was relieved to hear Edgar sound so urgent. He had known the duke since his birth, and there wasn’t anything he wasn’t good at, and it sounded like he was great even at acting.

‘Now he will call the doctor…’

However, the door was opened, which was not supposed to happen according to their plot. Edgar jumped out before they could get shocked. He was carrying something wrapped in a duvet, and the pair of feet that came out at the end of it were clearly Rubica’s.

“Your Grace?”

He was supposed to be wounded in his legs, not walking like this. However, Edgar didn’t even care and yelled as he walked away.

“Don’t follow me!”

Carl froze at the order, and so did the people who had been waiting to welcome the duke home.

Edgar glared at them as if he was really not going to forgive them if they dared to follow him, and then he disappeared into the building.

“What, what should we do?”

Ann managed to come back to her senses before most of the others did and asked Carl.

“For now…”

Carl thought of how Edgar looked and gulped hard. It had been the fiercest and the most dangerous glare he had seen.

“We shouldn’t follow them as he ordered. He will call us if he needs us. We should check inside the carriage and see if something happened.”

As the duke was smart, it was unlikely he was doing that without any reason. Ann agreed with him and dragged the doctor who was still in shock from seeing his patient walk without any problem in the carriage.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong. The carpet was wet with water from the bathtub although they didn’t know why, and the bed was slightly wet as well.

Sadly, Edgar wasn’t carrying out the plan they had made in advance. But now, since everyone, except for the three, was so scared, and they weren’t even thinking of going in the carriage, it wasn’t too late to improvise.

“Ann, where is the box of pig blood and entrails?”

“Oh, it’s here.”

Ann took out the box she had hidden under the bed.

“But there’s something else here. I think they’re clothes.”

“You should take it out then.”

The duke’s and the duchess’s safety was the most important thing to them. Carl didn’t want to leave anything known under the bed, and Ann felt the same. She pulled it out.

“Oh!”

It was the dress Rubica was wearing a few hours ago. It had been ripped apart, never to be worn again. Ann fanned at her face with her hand to cool down her blushing cheeks.

“What, what has happened to this dress?”

However, Carl didn’t say anything. The three of them could see what had happened.

“Oh, I see. Yes. I didn’t prepare an extra dress for her…”

Rubica was naked when they had come out, so Edgar had been obliged to wrap her in a duvet and run.

“I should have prepared another dress.”

“Oh, but the journey took only a few hours. They couldn’t have held out for that long.”

Ann protested as she hid the dress, thinking Rubica and Edgar had done it a long time ago, but she couldn’t help smiling.

“Well, they’re in their youth. I can totally understand it.”

“Hmm, hmm.”

The housekeeper was saying the opposite of what she had said a second ago, her mind already drifting away. Carl cleared his throat.

“We don’t have time for this. We should put blood on the bed. You must also tell them the duke is so shocked that he behaved abnormally.”

“Oh, right.”

The doctor managed to come back to his senses only then. Despite his profession, he lacked the skill of improvising. Carl was the only one they could rely on now. Ann, therefore, followed his instructions and put blood on the bed.

The doctor also wrapped pig entrails in gauze making it look like a miscarried baby.

“But what is going on?”

“We deserve an explanation!”

The people outside couldn’t wait any longer and were making a protest. They wouldn’t dare to follow Edgar and ask him, so they were pressing on the butler.

Carl checked his expression for the last time before he opened the door. He had been worried about Ann the most as she was bad at fooling others, but she seemed to be in the greatest despair.

“Ann, I didn’t know you were such a great actress.”

“Oh, don’t break the mood. I’m desperately trying to recall every misfortune I’ve suffered.”

Ann’s lips twitched, so Carl opened the door before she could burst into laughter.