ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 140: Something that shouldn’t have happened

Valerie’s heart beat a little faster but her face remained composed. She merely nodded. "I see."

No further questions. No objections. Yet the silence that followed felt heavier than the conversation before it.

"I don’t want you to feel unsafe," Demian said finally, his voice lower. "In this castle."

Valerie looked at him for a long moment. "I know."

But there was so much she didn’t say. That the unease she felt wasn’t only about Bianca. Not just about a maid’s placement or corridors that seemed increasingly full of watching eyes. It was about how everything was now moving beyond her full control about how her past good intentions were beginning to reveal consequences she could no longer undo.

Demian finally turned away. His steps were steady, but his shoulders tightened slightly a sign that his mind was far less calm than his appearance suggested. The door closed behind him, leaving Valerie alone.

She stood still for a while, then released a long breath.

Moving Bianca might seem like a small decision. But Valerie knew better: in this castle, no decision was ever truly small. Every distance created, every interaction cut short, was an attempt to survive or at least to delay something that was drawing far too near.

And as Demian walked toward his meeting with the Emperor, Valerie realized one thing with quiet clarity keeping Bianca at a distance was not about resentment, but instinct the instinct to protect herself from a truth she might not be able to face if it came too close.

Meanwhile, Demian had arrived at the imperial palace.

The marble gates towered above him, cold and unwelcoming as ever. Each of his steps echoed through the grand hall, his boots striking stone floors that had witnessed too many oaths, too many betrayals. Guards saluted, officials bowed, yet Demian barely registered a single one of them. His thoughts lagged far behind back at the castle, in a quiet corridor, on Valerie’s face that had been far too calm for someone holding back a storm.

He was ushered into the Emperor’s private audience chamber.

The room was vast, its ceiling high, tall windows allowing in pale light without warmth. The Emperor stood with his back turned, gazing outward, as though this conversation was not something he wished to face head-on.

"Demian," the Emperor said at last, his voice flat but heavy with pressure. He turned slowly. "What is really going on?"

Demian stood straight, his hands clasped behind his back. He had anticipated this yet no preparation was enough for what followed.

"How could you even consider dissolving your bond with the Marquess’s daughter," the Emperor continued. "With Lady Kosler."

The room seemed to grow colder.

Demian drew a deep breath. "I only want—"

"No," the Emperor cut him off sharply. He stepped closer, his gaze hard. "A decision like this is not a matter of desire alone. That bond was not formed because of feelings, Demian. It was set from the beginning by blood, by covenant, by the stability we have preserved for decades."

He stopped directly in front of him. "You should have thought far more carefully before making such a decision."

For a moment, Demian was silent. His father’s image flashed through his mind a man who had once stood in this very room, under the same gaze, with a decision just as fatal.

"I have to do this," Demian said at last. His voice was low, but unshaken. "Because I am... about to become a father."

Silence fell like a hammer.

The Emperor’s eyes widened slightly only slightly, but enough to show this was not what he had expected. He did not speak at once. He studied Demian for a long moment, weighing the words, measuring their impact on the realm.

"I understand," the Emperor said finally, his tone calmer and therefore more dangerous. "But is that woman , Valerie not meant to be merely your woman?"

He stepped aside, idly turning the small staff in his hand. "Not your partner. Not your wife."

His gaze locked back onto Demian. "Because you already have Lady Kosler as your partner."

Those words rang louder than any shout.

Demian’s jaw tightened. "That child carries my blood."

"And that blood will be acknowledged," the Emperor replied without hesitation. "As an heir. As a responsibility. But do not mistake responsibility for a bond."

He stopped directly before Demian. "Your bond with Lady Kosler is a political foundation. The woman you speak of—" the Emperor paused, choosing his words carefully, "Is a consequence of your personal choice."

"She is not merely a consequence," Demian said, clenching his fists.

The Emperor looked at him sharply. "That is how all men think," he said coldly. "Your father said the same."

The name hung in the air heavy, poisonous.

"And you know how that ended," the Emperor went on quietly. "He lost everything. His wife. The woman he chose. Even himself."

Demian exhaled slowly. "That is exactly why I don’t want to repeat it."

The Emperor let out a short laugh, devoid of humor. "Everyone who repeats a mistake always says that."

He turned back toward the window. "If you dissolve that bond," he said without looking back, "you are not merely defying custom. You are challenging something older than all of us." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Demian stared at the Emperor’s back, and for the first time, he truly asked himself not aloud, not bravely, was he saving the life yet to be born, or dragging it into the very same curse?

But one thing was already clear to him.

Whatever the Emperor decided, whatever price he would have to pay, Demian knew he could not return to the point before Valerie and before that child existed.

And perhaps, for the first time in his life, he was ready to face the consequences of his own desire.

Demian lifted his head.

The gaze that had once been restrained was now steady, clear and for the first time before the Emperor, it did not seek approval.

"Whatever your decision may be," Demian said quietly yet firmly, each word falling with a weight that could not be taken back, "I will still dissolve the bond."