ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 88: More than silence

"I’m not provoking you," Kaiser replied without backing down. "I’m challenging you. There’s a difference."

Demian stepped closer just one step, but close enough for the space between them to throb with tension. "If you still want our relationship to remain intact," Demian continued, his voice cold and controlled, "you’d better leave. Now."

Kaiser studied him, trying to read what lay beneath the anger and what he found was not fear, but control forced into place.

"A relationship?" Kaiser repeated quietly. "You speak as if that’s what you’re protecting."

Demian did not answer. His jaw hardened. His gaze flicked briefly toward the carriage toward the thick curtain hiding Valerie from view.

Kaiser noticed.

And for the first time, he understood: this was not about courage. It was about something Demian was unwilling to risk in front of everyone.

"Go," Demian said again, curt.

Kaiser let out a long breath, then bent to pick up the coat he had thrown earlier. He put it back on, his eyes never leaving Demian.

"Fine," he said at last. "I’ll go."

He turned halfway, then stopped. "But listen to me," he added without looking back. "If anything happens to her if you cross the line I will not stay silent. Not as the crown prince. But as a man."

Demian did not reply.

The carriage began to move again. The wheels creaked softly as it rolled away from the forest and from Kaiser, who stood frozen in place.

Inside the carriage, Valerie sat in silence, her back straight, her hands folded in her lap. She did not know every word that had been spoken but she knew one thing for certain from the tone of Demian’s voice, from the way the carriage moved too fast, His anger was not finished. And this time, she was alone with it.

Inside the carriage, the silence felt far more suffocating than any shout could have been.

Demian sat facing Valerie. His knees were slightly apart, elbows resting on his thighs, his hands clasped together tightly too tightly. Every muscle in his body remained tense; the anger had not fully faded. He wanted to release it. To hurl sharp words. To demand explanations, or at least to shatter the silence that pressed painfully against his chest.

But every time he lifted his gaze, he saw Valerie.

Her back was straight, her face pale, her eyes fixed forward without truly seeing anything. There was no resistance. No defense. Not even sorrow spilling over.

Only silence.

And that silence hurt far more than tears ever could.

Demian clenched his fists again, then slowly loosened them. His breathing was heavy. In his mind, fragments of the previous night resurfaced the campfire, Ivanka’s and Elena’s laughter, the glass in his hand, the sense of ease he hadn’t even realized he’d allowed himself.

He had almost forgotten Valerie last night.

The realization struck him hard.

He swallowed, his jaw tightening not with anger this time, but with a guilt he refused to name. If he lost his temper now, if he exploded in front of Valerie, he knew it would only make him look like the sole one at fault.

And perhaps... he was.

His gaze dropped to Valerie’s wrist. A faint redness lingered there, the mark of his own grip. His heart gave a strange, uneven thud.

He thought twice.Then three times.

In the end, he chose the safest thing he could manage, silence.

Not a single word left his lips.

The carriage kept moving, its wheels creaking softly over the road. The forest slowly fell away behind them, replaced by the stone path leading back to the castle.

Valerie did not move. She did not turn. She did not ask.

She simply sat there, as though her presence were nothing more than an obligation that had to be brought home.

And throughout the entire journey no one spoke.

Yet within that long, wordless silence, one thing grew quietly, unmistakably distance.

The silence inside the carriage felt strange to Valerie.

Normally, Demian would have exploded by now. His voice would rise, his words would turn sharp, his anger unleashed without restraint. He was never good at controlling his emotions and Valerie had far too often been the place where they spilled. But this time... there was nothing.

And that, somehow, felt even more suffocating.

Valerie drew a slow breath, then finally spoke, breaking the quiet that had hung between them since they left the forest.

"Is it really all right... to leave Ivanka Kosler there?"

Demian turned to her.

His gaze was sharp, cold, instantly hardening the air between them.

"That’s none of your concern," he said curtly.

Valerie swallowed. Her chest ached, but she turned her face toward the carriage window, watching the scenery rush past. Her voice came out softer yet no less cutting.

"You even forgot about me," she said. "Because you were too busy with her."

The carriage kept moving.

Demian did not answer at once.

This silence was not calm it was pressurized, as though something was being forcibly held back. His jaw tightened. He knew Valerie’s words were not entirely wrong, and that truth only made him more irritated.

Sorry.

The word flickered briefly through his mind then vanished. Too heavy. Too damaging to his pride.

"I suggest you keep quiet," he said at last, his voice low and restrained. "And stop provoking me."

Valerie turned back to him, meeting his gaze head-on. Her eyes no longer glistened with tears only exhaustion.

"What exactly would you do?" she asked flatly.

A brief pause followed.

Demian stared at her for a long moment too long as if weighing something he wasn’t even sure he wanted to release.

"Be quiet," he repeated coldly. "Because you won’t be able to endure my anger... again and again."

The words fell heavily between them.

Valerie did not respond.

She simply turned her face away once more, this time completely, staring outside without blinking. Her hands rested in her lap, fingers tightly interlaced not out of fear, but because she was holding something together, desperately trying not to let it fall apart. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The carriage rolled on, silent except for the soft creak of its wheels.

And inside it, two people sat facing one another bound by the same relationship, yet drifting farther and farther apart.

The carriage finally entered the castle courtyard.

The iron gates opened slowly, the clatter of their chains echoing through the gray afternoon air. As soon as the carriage came to a halt, Demian stepped down first. He did not look back. He simply opened the carriage door and said flatly,

"Get down. Rest."

His tone was neutral neither cold nor warm. As if it were nothing more than a routine order.

Valerie hesitated for a moment before stepping out. Her feet touched the stone of the courtyard, her body feeling light and hollow all at once. When she straightened, she turned toward Demian.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Demian adjusted his gloves, his gaze not fully on her. "I have important matters to attend to."