There Is No Paradise Where I Ran Away To (14 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 41

The moment she returned to her room, Vivian locked the door and sank down onto the floor as if sliding into place. Her face, gasping for breath, was pale as a corpse.

She had finally discovered Duke Beitnes’s true intention.

Touching her carelessly, pulling her into embraces—

Each time, she had read the fervor in his piercing blue eyes yet failed to be on guard. She had thought it malicious suspicion, dismissed it as misunderstanding. But all of it pointed to one single thing.

His bedroom, his bed, his bedding—he calmly proposed sharing it with her.

It was in that very moment she realized that Mayer’s suggestion for her to become his mistress had actually been rather refined. The haughty gaze with which he offered her a place in his bed—expression devoid of any emotion—was clearly meant for the sole daughter of his sworn enemy, the very person he had once promised to kill. His arrogance left no room even for refusal.

“My lady, men’s desires do not consider moments or circumstances. To possess your body, they will whisper false love as if it were true. Therefore, never—never—let yourself be deceived by their sweet words.”

Her mother, desperate to protect both her beloved daughter and the family’s vast fortune from impending ruin, had instructed her governess to provide an early education on such matters shortly before her debut into society.

Innocent women are easily fooled by sweet masks.

Her mother had urged her never to trust suitors too readily, never to surrender her body or heart to whispered declarations of love, and above all, to avoid at all costs the worst fate—falling into a despicable trap and losing everything.

Thus, even during times when she craved safety and stability, she had rejected every suitor who approached and kept them all at a distance.

She closed her eyes and pressed down hard on her chest, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. Struggling to suppress the trembling in her voice under the weight of suffocating pressure, she writhed inwardly—but the deeper the night grew, the clearer and more vivid became those vivid blue eyes once filled with such fervent desire.

***

The storm violently shaking the windows was fierce. Conversely, summer’s heat had begun to wane, and preparations for autumn were underway. Once this storm passed, the cold wind would soon knock upon Rodinia’s gates.

Edwin picked up the letter lying on the table. It was from Baroness Beitnes in Rottermond.

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