Engaged to The Duke of Death

Cold Plunge

"It's freakin' hot..." I grumbled under my breath, walking down the streets of the small town. I glanced from one end of the street to the other, wishing that one of the multiple stores would have air conditioning. Of course...this place wasn't that technologically advanced yet.

They still had magic, though.

Or an aura – as they called it.

I let out a heavy sigh and then tugged at the high collar of the dress I was wearing. Its multiple layers upon layers and the tight corset along with heavy ruffled sleeves wasn't alleviating the amount of sweat that I was conjuring up underneath the material. It was absolutely ridiculous had they forced the women to wear these things, and yet...the men that I would see only had to wear a maximum of two or three layers.

It made me hate the situation I was in even more.

I slumped forward, sagging my shoulders – "What did I do to-?"

My eye caught onto a reflective surface. I stopped where I was and then looked over at the mirror that was being sold at a nearby tent.

That's right...a damn mirror was the reason why I was even here in the first place.

It wasn't as if I did anything in particular other than buying a mirror at an antique sale since it was cheap, and, I felt a pull towards it – an unexplainable likeness towards the stupid thing. If there was a lesson to be learned here – it was probably to stay far, far away from antique sales. Or, maybe the lesson here was to never hang a mirror up in my apartment ever again. Either way, I would be staying far away from any mirrors the moment I returned back home.

I tore my eyes away from the mirror, deciding to not linger on it any longer.

However, the moment I did, the sun hit it at an awkward angle that caused me to become suddenly blinded by a bright light. I took a wobbly, unsure step forward it the black dress shoes I was wearing, when I bumped into a hard surface.

"My lady-!" Marie yelled with concern from behind me.

"Ah!" I yelled, stumbling backwards a few steps and nearly took a harsh tumble from tripping over the long layered dress I was wearing. My hands, which were in front of me, landed on something sturdy. "Who-?"

Put a wall here...?

I looked up and found a man with dark, tanned skin looking down at me.

He had blue-azure, steady eyes – it was the type of blue that seemed to hold the purity of an icy mountain lake, untouched and serene. There was a stern, straight line on his face. His gaze seemed to lighten some...the color of the mountain lake that I had seen in those eyes had lightened a shade, as if the sun had come out from behind a cloud and casted light on it, bringing them to life.

He had white, short hair that had been grown out from a military buzz-cut – he didn't appear to be old, though, from his stature and skin...even the way that he carried himself radiated of power and poise. In fact, his tanned skin color reminded me of my own. Even though it had been the first time I had been into this town since I came to this world, I hadn't met anyone else with a skin color other than white lurking around.

I blinked my eyes a few times, wondering why he was looking at me and not saying a word.

Oh, right...I bumped into him.

I was the asshole here.

"I apologize," I spoke softly as I bowed my head in respect. "The sun blinded me."

The man tilted his head to the side some, still looking down at me, although a thin smile swept over his features, the previous straight line that was once on his face having been disrupted. The action indicated that he accepted my apology even though he did not speak a single word.