De Devilish Duke

Prologue

“And so, they lived happily ever after!”

The seven year old giggled, as her mother wrapped up the bedtime tale.

“But mama, will I meet my own prince charming too?”

She asked, gazing up at her sweet mother with such wide eyes.

“Oh honey..” The mother chuckled, gently stroking her daughter's hair with a loving smile.

“You deserve a King himself.”

The young child beamed at her mother's words.

“Really mama?”

“Yay!”

….

Yay indeed..

A derisive scoff escaped my lips, accompanied by a humorless chuckle.

Heh, my mother lied.

The image of a joyful mother and daughter gradually faded when a leaf landed on the pond, disrupting the moon's reflection.

Damn again. Why am I suddenly remembering that memory?

I find myself reflecting on that memory once more and I am perplexed as to why it has resurfaced in my thoughts.

I exhaled heavily, shaking my head to organize my thoughts.

Embracing myself to shield against the chill breeze; I struggled to suppress another wave of tears, but my efforts were in vain.

I once again took a look around the place I'm hiding in, for the past few minutes; noticing if there’s any change at all.

My dress, completely soaked from the waist down which makes the cold even worse.

The pond. My very hiding spot at the moment, is covered by a line of thick bushes, rocks and trees. It seemed like quite a private and cozy place to stay hidden, making a perfect spot for me.

It's no different. At all.

Suddenly, I hear a sound and immediately get alerted hearing a few footsteps but I see nobody.

This cold must be making my mind run wild, I thought.

“This is not how I thought I'll be spending my night in this manor..”

I mumbled to myself leaning back against the rock behind me.

With my birthday, occurring the next day.

Looking up at the full moon staring right back into my face, as if it's mocking me.

Ugh, what am I even thinking about?

“This is all just so..”

“Beautiful.”

A murmur from behind me catches me off guard. The voice I recognize so well echoes in my mind, causing my heart to race.

“Isn't it?”

I freeze up hoping he didn't see me and rather he's just speaking to himself or someone else but no, I could feel his presence right behind me.

How did he even..

“Now that's certainly an interesting way to admire the moon.”

I hear him chuckle.

Which just makes my heart race even more.

I hear him chuckle again, oh my god.

A brief and uncomfortable silence passes between us before I hear him speak again.

“So how long do you think you could stay here?”

“Huh I..”

I tried to protest but suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder out of nowhere and yanked me up from the pond, turning me to face him.

“Look at you, princess. All soaked and..”

I hear him go silent, taking his hands off my shoulder.

“Ahem, let's get you in. We can't have you unwell on this special occasion now, can we?”

I didn't escape and stayed in the cold water for hours to just get back inside the manor.

I wanted to fight, I wanted to ask him why.

“I'm okay, I just tripped and.. well.”

Another silence passes between us. This is just so awkward right now.

“I'll just get back inside myself.”

The Duke picked me up in his arms right after, walking away from the pond.

“I'll assist you, my lady. Your dress is all drenched and I'm afraid you might pass out before you could even make it out.”

There goes my another attempt. I  chose to remain quiet to avoid an argument, having my arms around myself, as the cold is truly starting to affect me.

I could hear him muttering something but my mind was too busy thinking about plotting another escape, without any failure.

Tomorrow, I will escape his wrath.

I must..

(edit mode)