Her words, however, only made him laugh. She then felt him disappear next to her. With another swoosh, the Duke was back, standing next to her again. This time, a white rose was in his hand. She looked at him before she accepted the rose silently.

"You — used to— you don't like the smell of flowers." That wasn't a question, so she chose not to correct him. She doesn't particularly hate flowers. She just thought that something about flowers was unsettling. Maybe it was the smell or the way that they were taken away from their stem.

"People will think that something is between us." She said.

"Since when did you start thinking about what others think?"

His words silence her. He was right. What they think was none of her business. However… "Showing my abilities to everyone meant attracting everyone's attention." She was prepared to attract everyone's attention, establish herself as a scary vampire so people would avoid everyone that she wanted to protect. Just like the female lead.

Once everyone is already scared of her, then those people won't disturb the female lead again.

"Your plan is a double-edged sword. One wrong move and it would hurt you. I don't want to see you hurt." His jaws clenched. "Whatever it is that you are planning… whatever it is that you want to do. I suggest you— "

"Duke Mo… I am not staying with you."

"Stubborn."

"Are you trying to describe yourself?"

"Why are you so adamant on this craziness?" he asked. She laughed in response.

"What craziness? Do you think it is crazy for a proper lady like me to stay with a man I don't know?" There it was again. The pain in his eyes created another lump in her throat. She hated it.

"Proper lady…" he chuckled. "This is something that can be solved by simple logic."

"What logic?"

"You don't know me. So, it is only right that I properly introduce myself. I am called Mo Li. You can call me whatever you want."

Mo Li.

His name echoed inside her head like an irritating tolling bell.

"How about you?" he asked.

"You already know me." She shrugged.

"Then… can I call you whatever I want?"

She turned her head away. "Do whatever you want." Of course, this sentence would be something that she would regret soon. "You know that I am planning something. But I can assure you. This has nothing to do with my father."

"You keep on thinking that I am staying with you because of your father. Did you ever think that I am with you because I want to? Because I want to be with you?"

"Why would the famous Duke stay with someone like me?" If not for political reasons? If not for subduing her abilities? If not for trying to use her and control her? She might not be that smart, but she was at least sane enough to know that the politics between the King and the Queen was quite complicated.

She doesn't want to involve herself in things like that.

"Can I just do it because I want to?"

"Do you see me as a fool?" she countered. "With the flock of women following you around, how could you try and force yourself into a woman that doesn't know you?"

"Flock of women?" he smirked, understanding flashed in his eyes. "I never had women following me around."

"Liar." Why does it feel like she was a jealous girlfriend? Embarrassment flashed in her eyes.

"Are you perhaps jealous?"

"Jealousy is for the weak."

When the Duke didn't respond, Lucinia turned towards him and immediately saw him smiling at her. "I am not jealous." She emphasized the word. She honestly didn't know if she was telling that to the Duke or herself. "I am not jealous!"

This time, the Duke didn't stop the laughter from escaping his mouth. He held back his head, shoulders shaking as he laughed at her.

"I said, I am not jealous!" she repeated.

"Why are you so angry?"

"I am not angry!" She balled her hands into fists. Why would she feel irritated while thinking about other women following him around? Isn't it normal for a man who had lived for hundreds of years to have hundreds of past lovers? Again, the thought of him having lovers made her extremely angry. "When I grow old like you, I would probably have hundreds of past lovers too!" she uttered but immediately regretted her words when she heard him stopped laughing.

"So, you want to have hundreds of lovers?" he raised an eyebrow. She didn't miss the changes in his voice. "Is that what you want?"

Seeing the glint in his eyes, Lucinia took a step back. She could feel some sort of pressure around the man, something suffocating. She blinked and took another step. "I don't think that is any of your business." She managed to say as she tried to swallow the fear inside her.

"You know… since we met, I already sense that fear inside you. You seemed to fear me. At first, I thought it was because of your lack of knowledge about me. Then, I realized something." Stepping forward, the Duke suddenly grabbed her hand that was clutching the rose so hard. And yet, she didn't even notice that she was already bleeding from its thorns.

She widened her eyes when the Duke removed the rose from her hand. Unable to say another word, Lucinia watched as he slowly used his tongue to lick the blood dry from her healing wound. "It wasn't because you fear me. It was because you fear knowing me. Am I right, your highness?"

"Why… why would I fear knowing you?" That doesn't make any sense at all.

"I don't know… Lucinia. Why are you afraid of knowing me? Are you perhaps afraid to feel something when you start to know me? Or are you scared that you won't be able to control yourself and give in to the complicated emotions that you currently feel?"