This Life, I Will Save The Duke (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 68

His deepened onyx eyes held nothing at all.

Meeting that gaze, Ariel couldn’t form a single thought. Every rehearsed word, every resolution she’d repeated to herself over time began crumbling away, leaving her mind utterly blank.

It was as if she’d even forgotten how to breathe.

Kaius closed the book and slowly rose from the daybed. Though his eyes remained closed only for a brief moment before opening again, within Ariel’s consciousness, that instant stretched into eternity.

He approached and silently offered her the book. Ariel, so stiff she couldn’t even move a finger, was unable to accept it. When she didn’t take it, the book was tossed back onto the daybed with a soft thud, and Kaius walked past her as though she weren’t there. Throughout that entire time, Ariel remained utterly frozen.

She only realized what had happened when Zaphros collapsed with a loud crash, cleaved cleanly in two. Beyond the severed remains of Zaphros, she saw Kaius exiting the greenhouse.

Only then did Ariel snap back to her senses and rush after him, desperately trying to recall the very words she’d rehearsed countless times for this moment.

By the time she stepped into the garden path and blocked Kaius’s way, she’d managed to regain some measure of courage. Strangely, she even found herself hoping—based on his past behavior—that he might show her some kindness.

“…Kaius, can we talk?”

“What about.”

His reply carried no trace of anger or resentment. Precisely because of that, her heart clenched painfully, and a dull ache settled deep in her chest.

“Let’s go back to the greenhouse. It’s something I can’t say out here.”

Ariel glanced around once, then looked back at Kaius and reached out her hand, intending to lead him back inside. She grasped his firm arm with both hands and tugged, but his arm slipped smoothly from her grip. When she lifted her eyes to meet his, her body stiffened instantly.

His cold glare and tightly sealed lips were the Kaius of the past.

“Don’t deceive me again.”

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