ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 162: Why you here?

The answer came too easily. Too quickly. As though she herself wanted to believe it.

Lira and Sera exchanged a brief glance, then returned their attention to their duties. The curtains were drawn wider, morning light flooding the chamber, yet it failed to chase away the shadows on Valerie’s face.

Her hand drifted unconsciously to her stomach. There was a small movement there gentle, real something that held her rooted in this place, and at the same time urged her to leave.

Valerie closed her eyes for a moment.

She knew... it wasn’t only her belly that had kept her awake all night.

That morning, Valerie woke with the sensation of having walked a great distance even though her body had never left the bed.

The dark circles beneath her eyes were unmistakable as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her gaze was hollow, too calm for someone who hadn’t slept at all. Her hair lay slightly unkempt, her skin pale, and only one thing felt undeniably real: the gentle pulse in her belly a small, persistent rhythm she could not ignore, no matter how hard she tried.

She pressed her palm against the glass.

The woman staring back at her looked like a stranger.

"I never meant to be this cruel," she whispered to herself. "I’m just... tired."

Tired of being the one who always yields.Tired of being a woman whose life is decided by family names, bindings, and the will of others.And more than anything tired of loving with fear.

When she finally left her chamber and stepped outside the castle, the world greeted her with a calm that felt almost merciless. The sky was clear, the air cool, the leaves stirring gently in the breeze. Everything felt normal too normal for a heart as tangled as hers.

Her steps followed the stone path she knew so well. Every corner, every shadow, carried memories of days when she still believed happiness was something she could hold, not merely hope for in silence.

Without realizing it, her lips curved slightly.

A small smile fragile, almost shy appeared on its own, and with it, a faint warmth crept into her cheeks. Valerie startled at the realization. She raised a hand, touching her face, as though she couldn’t quite believe her body’s reaction.

All of this... just because of a ring.

Those blue eyes surfaced again in her mind.

Blue that was not merely beautiful, but deep.Blue that seemed to carry a promise, not just ornamentation.And most painful of all blue that felt far too personal to be kept without reason.

"Foolish," she murmured softly. "Perhaps I just want to believe."

Her hand drifted back to her belly, the motion now instinctive.

She stopped walking.

There, in the middle of the path, beneath the warm light of morning, Valerie stroked her stomach gently as if trying to soothe not only the child within her, but herself as well.

"I may be terribly sinful toward you," she said quietly, her voice nearly carried away by the wind. "I even wished, for a moment, that you had never existed." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Her chest tightened.

Not only with guilt, but with the nakedness of that truth.

"I know... if others heard me, they would call me wicked," she continued. "A cruel mother. A woman unworthy of a blessing like this."

Tears pooled in her eyes, but did not fall.

"But listen to me," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I do not hate you. I simply don’t know how to live without constantly feeling bound, confined, and stripped of myself."

She drew a long breath.

"I want to leave," she admitted at last. "Not because I don’t want you... but because I don’t know if I can survive in your father’s world."

Silence answered her.

And yet, within that silence, something inside her shifted.

The image of Demian his gaze lately, the way his hand lingered gently on her belly, his attention almost excessive rose one by one in her mind. And then, before she realized it, the words slipped from her lips, honest and unguarded:

"But if your father truly wishes to marry me..."

Her breath caught.

"...I would not refuse."

The words hung in the air heavy, dangerous, and full of meaning.

Valerie knew exactly what they meant.

They meant she was opening a door she had tried to keep tightly shut from the beginning.They meant she was giving Demian the power to bind her forever not through force, but through her own choice.And most frightening of all: they meant she was betraying her own plan to escape.

Three days.

Lena’s caravan.The witches.The chance to disappear without a trace.

Valerie closed her eyes.

If the ring truly was meant for her...If Demian truly intended to marry her...Then leaving would no longer be an escape it would be a betrayal.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked ahead at the road before her.

Her steps moved again.

The carriage came to an abrupt halt in front of a small pastry shop tucked into the corner of the street. The scent of butter and warm sugar drifted out even before the door was opened.

"Coachman, stop here," Valerie said suddenly.

Sera, seated across from her, startled. "My lady...? This wasn’t on the schedule—"

"I just want to buy some pastries," Valerie cut in lightly. A smile appeared on her lips without any clear reason, as if the morning itself had lent her a courage she didn’t quite understand. "Let me down."

Lira and Sera exchanged a brief glance.

Ordinarily, a sudden change of plans like this would have put them instantly on edge. But that day Valerie seemed different. Her face was more animated, her steps lighter, and a faint hum escaped her lips as she stepped down from the carriage.

Sera finally nodded. "We’ll wait outside."

Valerie didn’t notice the tension in their voices. She was too absorbed in her own feelings an odd mixture of hope and unease, of plans to leave and a desire to stay.

The shop bell chimed softly as she entered.

Warmth wrapped around her at once. Wooden shelves were lined with small cakes, fruit tarts, and sweet breads still releasing steam. The place was simple, soothing as if the world beyond its walls had never known conflict.

"Welcome," someone said.

Valerie turned and stopped short.

Ethan.

He stood behind the counter, unsmiling. His eyes locked onto hers immediately, sharp and filled with something that made her chest tighten.

"Valerie," he said, not as a friendly greeting, but as a warning. "Why are you here?"