The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation (Valeria) novel Chapter 345

KATHERINE

The carriage moved through the bustling streets.

I couldn’t stop looking through the sheer curtain at the people passing by, watching the lively sway of the night markets.

The air was thick with festivity. It was my first time visiting these lands, outside of Everhart’s Duchy and the territories of other nobles.

Suddenly, we came to a halt, perhaps because something was blocking the carriage’s path.

My attention fell on a pair of lovers standing in front of a trinket stall.

The man looked like a farm laborer, his skin tanned by the sun, but his face bore the foolish expression of a man hopelessly in love as he gazed at the petite woman beside him.

He picked up a few pendants, trying them on her.

The woman looked embarrassed, and then he whispered something in her ear, leaning in so close that it made her smile and blush like a tomato.

I sighed wistfully.

I had always been a hopeless romantic—so much so that a few sweet words and tender gestures were all it took for me to fall into bed with the house gardener and end up pregnant at a young age.

I lost my daughter, her father was possibly murdered, and then I was treated like an animal for years in that madhouse.

Now, I have to resort to deception, using tricks to sleep with a man who mistakes me for my twin sister.

What a colorful life I’ve had.

"Are you sad about losing your pendant?" A whisper suddenly brushed against my ear, the Duke’s soft breath tickling my skin.

"My pendant?" I lifted my head and turned slightly, meeting his beautiful blue eyes. "No, I hadn’t even remembered that."

I assumed he was talking about the old opal pendant I had given him.

"Then why did you look sad while watching them? Are you that unhappy by my side?" he asked, catching me off guard.

I hadn’t realized he was watching me.

His brow was slightly furrowed, his sensual lips were so close, his chest radiated warmth against my shoulder.

"I... no, why would I be unhappy by Your Grace’s side?" I couldn’t help but avoid his gaze.

The truth was, I wasn’t exactly unhappy, but I was carrying too many lies and secrets. The biggest one of all—I wasn’t the woman he thought I was.

"Duchess..." His fingers grasped my chin.

Elliot turned my face back toward him, so close I thought he might kiss me at any moment.

He leaned even further over my body, pinning me against the corner of the carriage. My heart trembled, pounding erratically. I was starting to feel a little nervous.

"I know our beginning wasn’t ideal. There are many things we need to... discuss," he paused, his intense gaze never leaving mine.

"But, Rosse... Duchess, I’m willing to bury the hatchet. Honestly, it’s exhausting to maintain a marriage like this, don’t you think?"

His words took me by pleasant surprise. I even fell silent for a moment, wondering if he was testing me, lying to me for some reason…

"Duke, I agree... I think—"

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