# 50
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For a moment, she froze thinking it might be an intruder, but even in the darkness lit only by the moon, she was able to recognize the person immediately.
“…Sir Duke?”
The man was facing her like a finely carved marble statue. Everything about him was inhumanly intense, except for his blazing blue eyes.
For a brief moment, Ariana wondered, looking at Kenneth.
How well did Roger convey her words?
'He must have transmitted something.'
So, did he also tell him that she knew nothing about the day of the stage accident?
After the sound of the cold waves hit the rocks for a while, a harsh sound pierced her eardrums.
“I heard you talked to Roger about my next wife.”
"Yes? Oh, yes, right."
“To talk to my secretary about something like this, wouldn’t you feel embarrassed?”
Kenneth wanted to sneer and sneer, but he had to grit his teeth to maintain an indifferent expression.
To fully acknowledge the possibility of having a subsequent wife in front of a subordinate.
Isn't this like giving up the desire to survive by my side?
“After I abandon you, what do you think will happen to you?”
“Do you think you can live happily with another man?”
Before, he was the one who coldly pushed her away, controlled the distance, and controlled her.
But now, he felt that no matter how hard he tried to hold it, it would slip out of his hands like sand. Kenneth grabbed her thin chin and whispered.
“Do you think you'll be able to live at all?”
“Who would think that your next wife, whoever she may be, would leave you alone? What about the crimes I absolved you from?”
Ariana looked at him with eyes deep in distance.
'Even if Engels conveys my position, he doesn't seem to care.'
So, was Kenneth angry that she assumed his intentions herf?
‘…Yes, that is it.’
A relationship in which there was no room for reconciliation or forgiveness, so what was she thinking? Instead, Ariana thought of answering his previous question.
'I have to meet my daughter, so I have to live.'
But, really, if things don't go as planned in the worst case scenario?
“…In that case, may I request that it not be painful?”
"What?"
“If you're going to kill me, let it be painless.”
Ariana tilted her head slightly in confusion, unsure why he was so confused.
“You already said you wished me dead.”
On the train, he said that, so why would he threaten her with this now?
“Sir Duke-”
But her next words were halted when he bit her lower lip sharply.
She tried to scream, but she couldn't even do that.
Penetrating her open lips, the frank contact sparked a sharp sensation in her head.
“Wait, a minute!”
Ariana screamed, parting her lips with difficulty.
She wanted to scream hard, but she wasn't as assertive as she wanted.
But when Kenneth tried to lower his head again, Ariana quickly stopped him by placing her left hand on his mouth.
A shiver spread down her spine when she felt the touch of his lips on her palm.
Ariana cried softly.
“We, we're not like that...!”
“So what?”
His blue eyes sank coldly.
He held her hand covering his mouth and whispered.
“Who are you going to share kisses with?”
“What, not with anyone...! Ah!”
When Kenneth bit the soft skin between her thumb and index finger, and then bit the swollen part of her palm hard, she screamed.
When the startled hand that tried to push him back retracted, there was no longer any way to stop him.
She didn't have a chance to breathe with the kiss even more violent and ferocious than the first.
Fear flooded Ariana's mind.
She remembered the day Kenneth kissed her for the first time. That night I held Baby.
He planted false hope in her, then stomped on it in the morning and left.
'He'll do it again.'
There is no guarantee that what happened once will not happen again. If she was subjected to such humiliation again, she felt that she would truly die from the humiliation.
But the arm holding her was so strong, she saw no chance of escape.
Finally, she gave herf up, slamming into his chest so hard that their lips separated.
“Ha, ha…! Ah!”
Before she could regain her breath, Kenneth pulled her, half-embracing, into the bedroom.
As his shadow covered her body, Ariana bit her lip.
By now, the birth control medications Dr. Bialy prescribed for Kenneth have likely run out.
So, the probability of pregnancy is now higher, which is why you should be more prepared.
'This is even better. I must do this well.'
But the feeling of old wounds being opened made her shed a few tears when he kissed her violently again.
* * *
The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore was loud.
Kenneth looked at Ariana.
A woman no longer affected by ridicule, comparisons or death threats.
It is unthinkable that he would fall in love with her again.
But after one kiss, he couldn't stop, as if he had been patient for too long now.
“My lord the duke...”
But when her hand touched a scar on his chest, Kenneth grabbed her thin wrists and pulled them up.
He was always indifferent to this scar.
But now, when her hand touched it, he felt as if fire was burning him.
Unable to bear this feeling, he moved closer to her with her in his arms.
He whispered to the woman who was breathing softly.
“You...”
You are mine.
Even if I never trust you, I can't give you to another man.
He wasn't sure if she heard him clearly, if he finished, or if she lost consciousness.
* * *
She knew it was morning when sunlight filtered through her closed eyelids.
Ariana was half dazed.
'Tired…'
If you quintupled the feeling of exhaustion she's experienced so far, this might be how she feels now.
Did Kenneth eat something wrong last night?
'Well, with all those medications he's taking, the person might lose his mind.'
He always seemed overwhelmingly composed.
But this time was completely different. He acted as if he had lost his mind, as if his separation from her would lead to disaster.
'Since he kissed me.'
When she remembered this, her exhausted body shook like wet cotton.
Time was blurry, as if her head was filled with champagne bubbles.
But because of this, the feeling of abandonment loomed large in the morning.
Ariana slowly opened her eyes with a calm heart. But as she gradually regained consciousness, she realized that she couldn't move because she was tightly hugged from behind.
'...What is this?'
She realized that a body warmer and firmer than her own was hugging her from behind, causing her to shiver.
Who the hell is this?
The lips, hotter than the muscles they touched, moved slowly along the bone of her neck.
When a large hand passed over her skin, she was shocked to the point of fainting.
Ariana quickly grabbed his vein-covered hand and turned around.
“You, why, ah!”
Ariana tried to escape in shock, but she tripped on the sheet and fell to the floor.
“A scream truly worthy of a Duchess.”
“Ha, uh...”
Ariana was startled by the sarcasm coming from above, her head spinning.
Kenneth was sitting comfortably on the bed, looking at her as she lay on the floor in the sunlight.
Ariana couldn't close her mouth, as if she saw something that shouldn't be there. Having the capital's social community there would have been less terrifying.
“Oh, wait a minute.”
Ariana began to quickly gather everything that could cover the worn fabric on her body—her shawl, a pillow, and other things—forming a small fort, and then she finally looked at Kenneth.