The figure emerging from the darkness was all too familiar.

Duke Torpeo. Uncharacteristically, his eyes were coldly detached.

He swiftly approached and pushed away Hailo’s hand that was holding her. It was done so quickly, without a chance for resistance.

Adeline blinked in confusion, unable to comprehend the situation.

‘Wasn’t he asleep?’

She was sure he had been asleep when she left.

“Me, Mel… why are you here?”

Adeline’s voice trembled with bewilderment.

The Duke, ignoring her question, confronted Hailo with a gaze full of wariness.

“What is this about?”

The Duke’s icy voice scattered chillingly in the air.

Hailo’s eyes, initially flustered, settled into a grave expression, as if understanding the situation.

“Del.”

Hailo, with a gentle voice, addressed Adeline, who was partially hidden behind the Duke.

“The companion you mentioned living with, is he a Duke……”

“Stop! That’s……”

Adeline quickly moved past the Duke to cover Hailo’s mouth before he could reveal the Duke’s identity.

It would be problematic if Hailo disclosed the Duke’s identity.

Adeline glanced at the Duke’s profile, feeling overwhelmed by the situation.

Why did they have to meet like this? Hailo would surely react if he knew she was living with a man, let alone a Duke.

But she couldn’t lie in front of the Duke either.

Hailo and Cassis simultaneously turned towards Adeline, their intense gazes seeming to await her response.

Adeline bowed her head.

‘It’s over. All is lost.’

“That’s… right.”

Eventually, Adeline had no choice but to confess honestly.

Hailo’s face fell into a look of utter despair at her admission.

After a few moments of silence, Hailo’s expression changed as if he had reached a conclusion.

His face flushed red, he exclaimed,

“What? No, Adel! We need to move your things right away!”

It was the first time Adeline had seen Hailo so angrily.

She stepped in front of him, her face filled with panic.

“No, Hail. Listen to me. That’s not it.”

“What’s not it? Would your family recognize you like this! I must go back right now and tell the Duke……uh.”

Adeline quickly covered Hailo’s mouth again before he could say ‘Duke’.

“There are reasons for everything!”

She whispered to Hailo.

Revealing her family matters here would complicate things further.

If the Duke regained his memory, it would be the worst-case scenario.

Unaware of the whole story, the Duke stood frozen in place.

His face was so pale it almost turned blue.

He had sensed something unusual about their relationship since finding the letter.

But seeing them so affectionately together, the Duke didn’t know how to react.

‘Del had another lover all along…’

Their pasts unknown to him. Their family stories. The close bond between them was apparent.

So much so, the Duke felt there was no room for him in between.

‘What am I to Del?’

Feeling disillusioned, emptiness engulfed Mel.

A loneliness more profound than when he realized he had lost all his memories.

‘She has such a close lover, and I am…’

Overwhelmed by a bitter sense of defeat, the Duke turned away.

“Mel? Where are you going?”

“Don’t go. Stay, Adel!”

As Adeline attempted to chase after the Duke, she was held back by Hailo.

Ignoring Adeline’s calls from behind, the Duke didn’t stop his steps.

On his way back to the mansion.

The Duke was still reeling from the shock.
The Duke had trusted Adeline, calling her his lover, without a doubt.

But the tenderness in the letter and the intimacy he witnessed between the two left him unsure of what to do after the appearance of her hidden lover.

‘She’s not coming after me.’

He had seen them trying to enter the inn together at night.

Despite defying her family to flee with him, Adeline didn’t come after him as he left in shock.

‘Does she prioritize him over me?’

Lost in thought and unaware of where he was heading, Cassis found himself in front of the house.

Entering the second-floor corridor, he naturally walked towards a room where light was spilling out.

‘Ah. I didn’t turn off the light.’

It was the office where Adeline had discovered the letter.

Approaching the desk, Cassis touched the drawer where he had crumpled the letter.

‘Every night, worried and unable to sleep, you don’t know how I feel.’

‘Unable to sleep at night…’

What was he to Del?

Tonight, he felt like the protagonist of that letter, unable to sleep from worry.

Cassis crumpled the elegantly written letter.

The man with Adeline was undoubtedly a nobleman.

He seemed surprised to see him, indicating he knew Cassis.

‘Did she have another noble lover besides me?’

The Duke recalled the man with Adeline. His appearance was as refined as his handwriting.

Bright blonde hair and vivid blue eyes contrasted sharply with himself.

‘She must prefer a more reliable man than me, who’s lost his memory.’

‘Is she preparing to go to him because I haven’t regained my memory?’

Cassis’s thoughts spiraled.

When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem

This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis:

“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”

Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.

Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.

While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the  Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…

Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.

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