Chapter 11
After breakfast, they started walking around the garden to find a good spot for tea. Solid linked arms with Sophia and strolled past beds of colorful tulips and daffodils. Half lost in thought, Sophia recalled the dream she had last night.
That cold air, the Duke’s obsession wrapping around her like vines, and the fiery kiss—they were enough to unsettle a young woman all day. On top of that, the Duke’s mysterious words kept echoing in her mind.
[It’s no use, Sophia. This isn’t your body. Don’t you remember? Your body has long since fallen into the fiery hell of Hallas.]
The fiery hell of Hallas?
That was something that only appeared in legends. It was a place said to have been created by the gods to punish humans back when they still lived in this world. A hero named Ezekiel had fought monsters there and sealed it. So why had the Duke mentioned it in her dream?
“Sophia.”
Solid softly called her name. Sophia turned to him in surprise, realizing she had been too obviously lost in thought beside him.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night… What is it?”
Solid shook his head with a vague expression. Sophia remembered how he had seemed to be quietly mulling something over ever since breakfast. It looked like he had something he wanted to say but was hesitating.
“Actually, I…”
Just as Solid finally seemed ready to speak—
“Young lady!”
One of the maids came running and shouted, “The Duke has arrived!”
Solid turned toward the front gate. They were standing under an arched passage connecting the back and front gardens. When they turned, they could see the front gate, where several attendants were running out, likely to greet the Duke.
Soon, the Duke appeared between the fountains. He brushed past the attendants who were talking to him and walked toward the Count’s estate like it was his own home.
“Oh my.”
Solid let out a small sigh. That sigh clearly meant: So it’s true. You really are engaged to the Duke, just like the rumors say.
The Duke looked confident and elegant, enough to make anyone sigh in awe.
At the same time, Sophia couldn’t help but think how much he resembled the version of him in her dream. Of course, he looked the same because it was the same person—but that presence. That overwhelming pressure, so sharp it seemed to cut through the warm spring sunlight, was exactly the same.
[Sophia. You’ll never leave this place.]
His words from the dream rang in her ears. Then, as if he had read her thoughts, the Duke turned his head toward her.
His pale blue eyes met hers between the garden trees. Their eyes locked, and Sophia felt just like she did in the dream—as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t.
Her heart began to pound so hard it made her dizzy. A wave of heat rushed through her, warming the back of her neck and the palms of her hands.
She could almost feel again the Duke’s soft tongue licking inside her mouth, his hands gripping her body.
“Um… I… just a second…”
“Hm?”
Solid blinked as Sophia mumbled something. But by the time he turned to her, she was already gone. All he could see was her back as she ran away.
“Sophia!”
Running away at the sight of her fiancé—Solid called out in disbelief. But it was no use. Sophia was already fleeing like a scared little girl running from a strict teacher.
She never thought the shortcuts she’d memorized as a child would come in so handy. As she hurried away, she looked for a place to hide.
But unlike when she was small, her grown-up body didn’t fit into the same hiding spots. So now, like a child dropping cookie crumbs, she left behind surprised gasps at every turn.
“Oh my, young lady!”
“Heavens, young lady!”
The same reaction every time.
To silence them, Sophia did her best to hush each maid she passed, pressing her finger to her lips.
Her heart pounded wildly from the running. She slipped into a hidden spot deep in the garden—a small space at the back of an old gazebo built in a foreign style, the very place she used to hide when she got in trouble as a child.
Her head spun, either from fear or exhaustion.
She had run without thinking and now regretted it.
What kind of grown woman does this? Running around the estate like a troublemaker, running away from her fiancé—especially when he’s a Duke.
If I had at least hidden well, maybe it’d be fine.
Sophia looked around gloomily. She would be found soon. Everyone in this house adored the Duke too much to just let her run off. The maids would come for her shortly.
She could already imagine herself being dragged in front of her family, Solid, and the Duke, forced to explain why she ran away.
But I can’t tell them the truth—that I had a dream where the Duke kissed me passionately, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.
Sophia shook her head.
She wanted to slap herself for having such a dream.
Was it that weird romance novel I read the other day? The one set in a gloomy castle? But that didn’t seem fair. She had only flipped through the first few pages out of curiosity because it reminded her of the books she used to collect as a child.
Ugh. Just die, seriously.
Sophia banged her forehead lightly against a gazebo post, cursing herself.
One of the most important lessons before entering high society was: Never run away, no matter what.
As long as a noble has a title and land, they can never truly run. Running only ruins one’s dignity. Sophia had heard that so many times her ears ached from it. It was especially meaningful for her, someone who used to hide in places like this to avoid scolding. And yet, here she was—facing trouble and choosing to run first.
“I’m crazy. How can I face the Duke now…”
She muttered gloomily, hugging her knees.
Then suddenly, a hand shot out from the bushes and grabbed her.
Her body flipped over. She landed flat on the grass and looked up in shock—at the man she most wanted to avoid.
“Found you.”
With a handsome face and a confident smile, he looked like a boy who had just caught a bird he let slip away.
Duke Silvetao.
The man who once looked down at nobles beside the Emperor was now smiling boyishly, standing over her like she was his prize.
His brilliant blond hair shimmered in the sunlight. His flawless face and sharp nose left Sophia frozen—until she hiccupped.
“Hic.”
“…”
“Hic.”
A loud and awkward hiccup.
The Duke stared at her with a puzzled expression, then burst into laughter.
“You run away, and now you’re hiccupping?”
“B-because, hic, y-you suddenly…”
“Call me Callas.”
“C-Callas…”
“Me?”
The Duke tilted his head kindly, giving her courage to speak.
“Because you, hic, suddenly appeared…”
But he dismissed her complaint with a short smile.
“Well, that’s because you ran away.”
“H-how did you know I was here?”
“I chased after you, and everyone kindly told me the way.”
He meant it teasingly, but he shifted her focus to the maids’ betrayal instead of why he had come all this way. Sophia, flustered, fell for it.
She gritted her teeth. Seriously, whose maids are those?
Even while lying under him, she was drifting into other thoughts. The Duke couldn’t understand why she had been so desperate to run, so he asked her,
“Sophia.”
“…Yes?”
“Why did you run away?”
Sophia let out a dazed breath.
“Uh…”
“You look cute, hiding here like a child. But I’m not pleased. Tell me. Why did you run?”
“Well…”
She hesitated. Her voice faded, and her shoulders shrank. Her thick brown hair spread out over the grass, and her face turned red like a ripe fruit.
“The thing is…”
She kept circling around her words.
Then, the Duke leaned even closer.
They weren’t children. A grown man and woman lying in the grass together wasn’t romantic—it was scandalous.
And the size of the Duke, so large and close, was more intimidating than exciting.
As his shadow loomed over her, like something continuing from her dream, Sophia suddenly shouted without thinking:
“Don’t kiss me!”
To someone who wasn’t even thinking about kissing her.
