Words that had overflowed as if a dam had been broken were quickly and mercilessly silenced. The loose air immediately tightened. Killian, who had been looking out the window with his hand on his chin, whether she was making noise or not, quickly turned his head to look at her.

“What do you mean by that?”

“…….”

“Remarried? What do you mean?”

Rowena’s lips curled up at the cold interrogation. By the look in his eyes, which looked ready to devour her at any moment, it seemed that he still didn’t know what she was talking about. That meant that his absence for the past few days was really due to work. With a strange sense of relief, she spoke frankly.

“I heard the news. The queen has already chosen your new marriage partner.”

“Is that so?”

His voice was soft, but it contained something so dark and fiery that she couldn’t fathom. Realizing it intuitively, Rowena turned her face away from him.

“That’s the first time I hear that, but do tell me more. I’m curious about my new wife too.”

“I don’t know who she is either. It’s just something I heard when I was out.”

She had an intuition she should stop speaking. A feeling that if she continues to speak, something irreversible might happen.

Killian was a man who spoke of revenge with nonchalance in front of Carol, who was tied up. He was a man who looked at others differently and felt differently, and made decisions differently. A man who you cannot understand and should not try to understand.

“Rowena.”

Her lips trembled as she saw him stretch out his arms and reach to grab her head. Rowena shifted her gaze helplessly and faced the piercing icy eyes that were staring at her. Killian, who had gotten so close that she could almost feel his breath, whispered to her softly.

“Answer me honestly. Seeing as how you say it as if you’ve been waiting for me, I assume you’re expecting me to remarry too.”

“…”

“Do you want to see another woman stand by me, get married to her, live, and have children with her?”

She could not answer with a yes, nor could she answer with a no.

As soon as she faced his pale blue eyes that made her heart freeze, one clear fact found its way to Rowena’s mind.

Rowena wanted to get away from this man. But she did not want to see another woman standing beside him. This was a man who kept a portrait of his dead fiancée in his house and was obsessed with her, her replacement. However, he was going to marry a woman who did not resemble his late fiancée at all, fall in love with her wholeheartedly, have children with her, and live happily ever after…

It was unfair. It was too cruel to her. Perhaps Jeremy had read her mind this way already, that she had this kind of childish and naive mindset.

She knew that wasn’t all, but Rowena didn’t think too much about it.

“I have no family nor status.”

She had to reassure him thoroughly to get him to let his guard down, to show him that she was jealous, wishing he could only look at her and no one else. If she also let down a drop of tear or two, the situation would be even more believable.

She, however, did not want to. She wanted to shake this man just as much as he did to her. She then moved and placed her hands over his and calmly continued speaking.

“You may laugh at me when I say this, but in the likely event that you will welcome a new duchess, I’m sure you’ll chase me o-..”

“Stop.”

“Mhm!”

Before she could finish her line, Killian raised an eyebrow and proceeded to devour her lips. Rowena wrapped her hands around his neck while closing her eyes at the heat that quickly rammed the inside of her mouth.

It was a fucked up relationship anyway. According to Jeremy, she and Damian would disappear from the country entirely, and that will have to happen while being by Killian Devonshire’s side.

“I told you already, Rowena. We’ll die and escape.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is no perfect escape more than death. It’s the hardest but the most reliable.”

“How do you plan to do this exactly..”

“All three of you will die in a boating accident. Without a trace, in front of all the witnesses that gathered.”

Her mind preoccupied with the thought of escaping, Rowena proceeded to speak.

“I have a request.”

“What is it?”

Too shallow an act of being in love would soon be discovered. Sometimes when a lie is mixed with a bit of truth, it appears more real than the truth.

If the main purpose was to make him ease his guard, now she wanted to be sure she could see him heartbroken too. With great eagerness to do so, she had to act with a mixture of hate, love, and obsession…

“Take me foxhunting. Killian.”

“… Rowena.”

“Reassure me as you did today. Right in front of the eyes of your future fiancée.”

Killian Devonshire should never remarry again. Even after her, the last replacement is gone.

****

Congratulation, you made it through part 1 of the novel!! All the background has been sat now. Starting book 2, more details will be revealed, and more conspiracies to untangle! And the story itself will have a quicker pace to it~ stay tuned and thank you for all your support!