Chapter 1

If I open this door, a duke will be there.
Maybe he is the man who could save me and my parents.

Vivian brought her clenched hand to the door and took a deep breath, ready to knock. But she hesitated for a moment, then took a step back from the door.

Will he really listen to me?

Thinking about it logically, our last meeting did not end well. No, it was actually very unpleasant.
I’m pretty sure he frowned more than once at the things I said.
Now, I regret yelling and acting out the way I did back then.

But she couldn’t turn back now.
Even if she had to beg and plead with the Duke.

With her resolve firm, Vivian gently knocked on the door, her face tense.

Knock knock.

Despite the quiet sound, there was no response from within.
She had been told he was definitely inside.

“Come in.”

At that moment, a low and heavy voice reached her ears, making Vivian inhale sharply.
Without hesitation, she opened the door and stepped inside.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the Duke stood with his back to the light, flipping through a stack of documents. Vivian found herself staring at him as if entranced.

“Sit there.”

Without even looking directly at her, the Duke gave a simple command before turning his attention back to the papers.

After a brief pause, Vivian sat on the sofa he had indicated. She sat upright, her back straight, staring blankly at the table in front of her.

The soft sound of papers turning continued in the silence.
Even in the stifling stillness, the Duke seemed completely unaffected.

It was complete isolation.

Suddenly, Vivian was overcome by the strange feeling that she was completely out of place in this room.

Where am I right now?

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Vivian was forced to remember her parents being taken away by soldiers. Even now, they were likely trapped in despair, waiting for the day of their execution.

That was why she felt a small sense of relief.
Relief that the Duke had come to stay, even briefly, in the rural estate of Fober.
Relief that this terrible summer, which had been nothing but pain for her, at least gave her a reason to see him.

The man she had once hated and looked down on had now become her only hope.
That truth felt so bitter and humiliating that Vivian could barely bring herself to speak.

The sound of a pen being set down made Vivian lift her head.
The Duke’s calm, steady eyes, always distant and quiet, now seemed to ask her why she was here. Her lips trembled slightly as she tried to speak.

“I thought I made myself clear back then.”

Edmund slowly closed the cap on his pen, then stood up and walked toward her.
Vivian’s eyes filled with fear as he approached.

“Was it not enough?”

Anxiety and fear filled her. Those tired green eyes, unable to hide their emotions, revealed everything to him.

Edmund slowly walked across the room toward the door and lowered his gaze.
With a soft click, he locked the door.

Then, at last, he looked at the woman who had somehow clawed her way to him, finding the answer at the edge of her own despair.

“I need your help, Your Grace.”

Her lips moved nervously as she watched his reaction. Her words were so direct that Edmund let out a quiet laugh without meaning to.

“Help?”

He took a slow step forward and sat down across from Vivian. With a small tilt of his chin, he gestured for her to continue.

“My parents were… taken.”

“And?”

A faint shimmer appeared in her clear eyes.

“I heard you played an important role in stopping the rebellion. You know my parents, Your Grace. They are not the kind of people to be involved in something like that. They wouldn’t have known anything…”

“They would never do something like that. I swear, they would never!”

“I know very well that your parents are good, capable people,” Edmund replied calmly.

“Yes, exactly! So please…”

“Even if that’s true, Vivian.”

As he spoke, Edmund watched quietly as a tear slid down her dry cheek and fell onto her tightly clenched hand.

“Why should I help you?”

His voice was calm but firm, his eyes fixed on her as he slowly reminded her of the truth.

“What did you say to me before?”

“Your Grace…”

A faint, broken sound escaped Vivian’s lips, now colored with despair.

This couldn’t be happening.
If she failed to convince the Duke here and now, she already knew what would happen to her parents.
That hopeless outcome was no longer a distant fear. It was real.

She had to change his mind.
No matter what it took.

“A deal…”

At her unexpected word, Edmund frowned slightly in confusion.

Vivian wiped her streaming tears with both hands. Gathering her scattered thoughts, she forced herself to speak with as much calm as she could manage.

“You were the one who taught me that, Your Grace.”

Her trembling voice was full of desperation.

“I’ll do anything. I’ll give you everything. If you need money…”

“I’m not sure about that.”

Resting his chin on his hand, Edmund spoke in a cold voice, as if amused by the situation.

“The first step in any deal is understanding what the other person wants.”

She fell silent.

“And unfortunately for you, I don’t want anything from you.”

As he looked into her wide, shocked eyes, Edmund stood up from his seat. He hesitated for a moment, then leaned in closer toward her.

Vivian flinched as a cold hand touched the back of her stiff neck.
His fingers moved slowly across her pale skin, and a faint smile, touched with amusement, spread across his face.

Vivian knew it too.

“You said you wanted to save them.”

She knew Hayden was not going to come.

“Your parents. Fober too.”

Tomorrow was supposed to be the most beautiful day of this summer. It was meant to be her wedding day with Hayden.
Two days had already passed since the date he had promised in his letter.
Vivian had already begun to understand, deep down, that the wedding planned for this summer was never going to happen.

“I have to do whatever it takes. Just like you said.”

The moment she heard those words, everything became real.
Reality struck her.

All the emotions she had forced herself to suppress came crashing down at once and spilled out in a mess.

Vivian stumbled forward, moving closer to the Duke.

At the very least, he was still here in front of her.

She could not deny it any longer.
She was still trapped in this nightmare of a summer.

There was only one way to save her parents and protect Fober.

This man.

Edmund Lockberg.

The one who looked down at her with calm and composed eyes.
This cruel man was the only answer she had left.

Tears streaked down Vivian’s cheeks as she closed her eyes.
It was not a difficult answer to find.

A moment later, she began to walk toward the Duke standing by the door.
What he wanted had always been the same.
This time would be no different.

As she approached and stood in front of him, Edmund glanced at her trembling lips. He placed his hand on the doorknob.

Just as he began to turn it, his cold gray eyes blinked slowly, startled.

A soft warmth touched the corner of his lips.
That gentle heat began to spread slowly through his body, and only then did Edmund relax and understand what was happening.

His delayed reaction was unlike him, but it was caused by the unexpected kiss the woman had suddenly given him.
The sensation hit hard, dizzying him so much he could barely breathe.

Yet despite it, he felt a swelling satisfaction rise within him, reaching all the way to his head. A quiet smile tugged at his lips as he responded softly.

“Just like you were taught.”

Edmund grabbed a handful of Vivian’s hair and leaned in, sliding one hand firmly behind her head.
She staggered back from the sudden pressure filling the space between them.

Thud.

Her unsteady body was pressed against the door as her thin arms…

Edmund wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lowered his head even further, gripping Vivian’s chin with rough intensity.
“Let’s see how well you take it.”
He pulled at her cheek, forcing her small mouth open until it ached, and pushed into her with a heat that overwhelmed her senses.
His hot breath poured out in ragged bursts. Vivian clenched the hem of her dress more tightly and shut her eyes in desperation.
The sound of the rattling door, low moans, and slick, wet noises mixed into the twilight air, heavy with the glow of the setting sun.

As he cradled her flushed, pale legs, Edmund smiled with quiet satisfaction. This was the prize he had finally taken at the end of summer.
“Vivian.”
When he held her slender neck, her clear emerald eyes blinked up at him.

It was a night that felt like a fitting end to a long and exhausting season.