Trapped in the Mad Duke's Snare (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
“Shall we head back?”
When Adeline reached out her hand toward the duke, an elegant carriage entered the town.
Though it bore no crest, its luxurious nature was obvious at a glance.
Crafted from rare ebony and accented with platinum, the carriage gradually drew closer to where Adeline stood.
Soon, the door of the carriage opened as it reached the center of town.
From between the doors, the toe of an expensive shoe appeared, and a man clad in a deep gray suit stepped out.
After alighting, the man adjusted his cravat and spoke to the knight following behind him.
“Veil, let’s take a brief rest before departing.”
The knight bowed silently, his epaulettes concealed beneath black cloth.
Adeline hadn’t given the carriage a second thought when it first arrived—until she heard that voice.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the man.
Was this what it meant to have no emotion? His hair and eyes, tinged with gray, radiated an air of indifference.
Even without a family crest, his noble bearing and weighty presence were unmistakable.
Adeline recognized him instantly: her father, Marquis Severus Credion.
‘Why is Father here…?’
Adeline’s heart began pounding as if it would burst.
What business could possibly bring him—a noble from the capital—to this quiet town of Horn so far removed from court? She stole a glance at the marquis.
The first thing the marquis saw upon stepping from his carriage was a doll with black hair and crimson eyes.
His indifferent gaze swept past the old man performing puppetry and the children, then settled on the fountain.
The moment his eyes met Adeline’s, she instinctively ducked her head sharply.
“Hah.”
Her breath caught in her throat. The marquis’s cold eyes, even in midsummer, sent a chill deep into her bones.
Adeline’s motion to leave had long since halted with his arrival.
“Del.”
Still frozen with her head bowed low, she didn’t respond even when the duke called her name.
The marquis’s unblinking stare tightened around her like an invisible noose, binding her in place.
She felt as though she’d be dragged before the Crown Prince any second.
Without realizing it, Adeline wrapped her trembling arms around her own neck, as if shielding herself.
‘I should’ve left sooner.’
While Adeline was overwhelmed with regret and fear, the marquis remained utterly composed.
She was the only one unsettled.
Once freed from the marquis’s gaze, Adeline exhaled as if the noose choking her had finally snapped.
‘Father can’t possibly recognize me.’
Human emotions were truly complicated. No sooner had she felt relief than a sharp ache bloomed in her chest.
A father who couldn’t even recognize his own child certainly wouldn’t protect her from the Crown Prince.
With those doll-like, emotionless eyes, the marquis would surely cast her before the Crown Prince without hesitation.
‘I need to get away. Now.’
She couldn’t bear to stay so close to the marquis. But the road home was blocked by his carriage.
She didn’t have the courage to pass by him.
Without delay, Adeline yanked the duke toward a restaurant on the opposite side of the street.
She wanted as much distance from the marquis as possible.
The duke, bewildered and unaware of her reasoning, followed her into the restaurant with a puzzled look.
“Weren’t we just about to head back?”
Adeline decided to wait until the marquis safely left the town.
She invented an excuse.
“Food! Let’s grab something to eat first. We’re hungry.”
Though puzzled by her urgency, the duke simply went along.
Adeline was taken aback by the restaurant’s interior as soon as she entered.
In her haste, she hadn’t noticed its appearance from outside.
‘The windows are too big.’
Sunlight streamed in through large windows—decor most would adore.
Except Adeline, who desperately needed to avoid attention.
‘Of all the places, why here?’
She needed to secretly watch the marquis’s carriage leave town, but instead, she might as well have hung a sign advertising her presence.
Every seat offered a clear, picturesque view of the town center through those expansive windows.
Unaware of Adeline’s anxiety, the duke chose the most beautiful spot for their impromptu lunch date.
A table between elegantly gathered chiffon curtains that accentuated the grand window.
‘People outside probably can’t see in clearly.’
Trying to reassure herself, Adeline gingerly took her seat.
As they perused the menu and dishes were gradually served, the duke grew increasingly bothered by Adeline’s repeated glances outside.
Her eyes kept drifting toward the silver-haired nobleman near the town square—the very man she couldn’t stop staring at earlier.
‘Could it be… she came to this restaurant just to peek at him?’
The duke’s eyes wavered uncertainly.
As if sensing the duke’s unease, Severus began walking steadily closer to the restaurant.
The nearer the man came, the more visibly distressed Adeline became, clutching the tablecloth tightly.
‘This isn’t good.’
Though still distant, the sight of Severus beyond the window made the duke frown.
In the air, the marquis’s icy glare clashed with the duke’s burning gaze.
Quickly untying the neatly gathered curtains, the duke snapped them shut—before the man drew any closer and stole Adeline’s attention again.
“The sunlight’s too blinding.”
The moment he yanked the curtains shut, Adeline stared at him in surprise.
“It’s bad for your eyes.”
In truth, what troubled the duke wasn’t the sunlight—but that man, who so dangerously drew Adeline’s interest.
He completely misread her fearful glances as longing.
Just as he believed he’d fully blocked her view—
‘Why on earth did he choose a terrace seat right outside our window?’
Beyond the swaying chiffon curtains, the silhouette of a broad-shouldered man became visible. Irritated, the duke tied the curtains even more tightly, consumed by jealousy of the perfectly outlined stranger.
Unaware that the man was Adeline’s father, the Marquis of Credion, the duke resented even the thin veil of fabric between them.
“Sigh.”
Adeline, already flustered by the marquis’s approach, deflated at the duke’s antics.
She let out an involuntary sigh.
To the duke, this only deepened his misunderstanding.
‘Is she sighing because I blocked her view of him?’
She’d supposedly run away from someone… yet here she was, already eyeing another man. He looked at her with a mixture of resentment and disappointment.
Outside the restaurant—
The knight approached the marquis.
“Your Grace, everything’s prepared. Shall we depart?”
As the marquis reached the restaurant’s front window, he noticed the abruptly drawn curtains.
He was annoyed by the rudeness of the man inside.
However, reminded by his knight that leaving immediately was necessary to keep his appointment with the Crown Prince, the marquis turned away without hesitation.
“Let’s go.”
Not long after the curtains closed, the marquis’s figure disappeared from view, and both the duke and Adeline relaxed their guard.
Today, the duke had suffered a great shock.
Adeline, who had stayed faithfully by his side despite his lost memories—
He’d never imagined she might turn her eyes to another man and abandon him.
But her behavior today had been enough to unsettle him deeply.
She’d been visibly shaken by that man, gripped her neck in distress, and even seemed tenderly affected in the end.
For the first time, the duke felt fear.
He couldn’t allow anyone to take Adeline away. He needed to confirm that she belonged entirely to him.
Today’s events made him acutely aware of how desperately he needed his lost memories back.
‘If I still remembered everything, Adeline would never look elsewhere.’
“But… why are we still considered lovers?”
“Oh. I was about to submit the documents to the temple, but you fell ill…”
‘The marriage vow!’
He resolved to hasten the drafting of the marriage vow with Adeline.
[This is the timeline separator]By the time they left the restaurant, the sun had already neared the horizon.
“The sun’s setting already.”
“Yes. We should head back now.”
It was starting to worry her—the journey back to the villa would take quite a while if they departed too late.
Though with the duke by her side, the road wouldn’t feel frightening.
As Adeline walked through town, gazing at the crimson sunset painting the sky, she stopped in front of an inn.
‘Come to think of it, Heiro probably sent a letter.’
She recalled the day she’d fled to Horn.
She’d sent a letter to Heiro from this very inn where she’d briefly stayed.
She’d intended to contact him again soon but had completely forgotten.
The chaos of daily life—especially after the duke had immediately drawn his sword upon seeing her and lost his memory—had left her mind in constant turmoil.
‘Should I go inside and ask? Or not?’
Adeline stood there, hesitating.
She desperately wanted to go in and retrieve the letter, but the duke beside her made her uneasy.
“What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”
The duke approached her and asked, puzzled by her sudden stop.
“Oh my, isn’t that Del? It is you, right?”
A mellifluous voice came from behind them.
Turning around, they saw a middle-aged woman who had quietly approached—the innkeeper where Adeline had paused.
“It’s been a whole month! Oh, I have letters for you, Del! Take them!”
Adeline tried to hurry away, but the innkeeper insisted she wait and quickly disappeared inside.
Moments later, she returned and handed Adeline several pristine white envelopes.
“He sends letters faithfully every week! Heehee. But there’s no one here to reply, so I was wondering how I’d ever deliver them.”
Adeline suddenly realized her mistake—she’d momentarily forgotten how talkative the innkeeper was.
A quick glance at the duke showed his expression shifting from curiosity to growing rigidity.
All she could think was that she needed to leave immediately.
“Well, yes. Thank you. Then we’ll just…”
She was about to say their goodbyes and leave.
“But I always assumed the letter-sender was your sweetheart! I thought he must be worried about his lover far from home—so your sweetheart is actually this gentleman here?”
The innkeeper’s tactless questions kept coming. At the word “sweetheart,” the duke’s brow furrowed.
He turned his gaze from the innkeeper to Adeline, his eyes silently demanding an answer.
‘Just a friend! Only a friend!’
Adeline hastily stuffed the letters into her pocket, grabbed the duke’s hand, and hurried away.
She couldn’t possibly let him see the contents of those unread letters.
Though she felt his suspicious glare bore into her back, Adeline pretended not to notice.
Under the duke’s burning gaze, Adeline felt as if her face might catch fire.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (48)
Haha, the duke is so possessive and obsessed with this scoundrel, Hero, who clearly likes her.
I hope this Heilo person is just a friend and doesn’t have any romantic feelings for her..
Oh my God, I will see the picture in the basement, will it be remembered?
Inline Comments (26)
He understood perfectly how anxious the butler and the rest of the household mus
Who said the Duke is the hero? He’s a filthy, despicable bastard. How could he do that to her and abandon her? Didn’t she mean anything to him? The people I hate most are the scoundrels who deceive girls and leave them. Poor Adeline, it’s a truly awful novel.
His tender voice sent an involuntary shiver down Adeline’s spine. Still pretendi
Isn’t this a pretty bad lie for her to go with? What if the seal is found in the luggage? This girl appears to be losing intelligence the longer the story goes
“A commoner woman, you say? To have saved the empire’s sole duke and yet be made
Wow such harsh punishment for being kind and saving a life. I really don’t pity Adeline. What twisted her karma so badly that she has to deal with the messes that come her way?
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Miioo
From now on, I hope her whereabouts will not be revealed to her father.