Duke of the Beast and the Vicarious Bride - Chapter 20

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

At that moment, a sound reached her that froze her entire being. Her heart plummeted, and all the blood in her body ran cold. Every hair on end with tension, Fiona held her breath and strained her ears to catch the sound more clearly.

Grrrk, krrrr.

Again the terrible sound echoed. She had not misheard. Something was there, in the darkness. Something that, like a beast awaiting its prey, was focusing on the sound of her footsteps. Fiona’s mind, seized by fear, raced desperately. What was the best decision she could make now?

Damn it, should I just go back…?

With nerves stretched to breaking, she wavered. Honestly, that was all she could think. Pact or no pact, this was too much, even for her. But the thought of returning now, of failing to uphold the Pact, weighed on her mind.

‘What in the world have I married?’

The sound her ears had just heard was not one a person could make. Not an ordinary person, at any rate. Unless Jayden had released some monster just to torment her, the only being that could be here was her husband. Until now, Fiona had not truly believed Jayden’s words describing him as a beast. She had dismissed it, assuming he was simply a man with a face too ugly to behold and a somewhat violent temper, deliberately turning a blind eye to reality.

But his words had been the unvarnished truth. A despair as deep as the darkness rose from her feet and swallowed her whole. When Fiona stopped walking, the sounds also ceased, but now she could sense it: the presence of the beast holding its breath in the darkness, wary of her. The quiet sound of its breathing, sending faint ripples through the cold, damp air.

Her past confidence in her own nerve now seemed a mockery; cold sweat trickled down her back. A torrent of thoughts flashed through her mind. Things she had never deeply considered before, but which now struck her as profoundly questionable. Why had the Emperor so readily granted a Grand Duchy to such a creature, even if he was a descendant of the old Grand Dukes? Was he truly of that bloodline? Was he even human? If he was, why had he been left in this beastly state?

Jayden had said there were “circumstances.” But she could not even guess what those circumstances might be.

‘I should have found out more about the Grand Duke.’

Not that knowing would have changed anything, but at least she could have prepared herself mentally. Now, for the first time, the reality of her situation struck her vividly. She felt exactly like a sacrifice offered to a monster. For a long while, Fiona remained frozen.

So they pushed me into this dangerous place without even a lamp, did they?

But after a moment, what slowly welled up in her heart was not an impulse to retreat, but a smouldering rage. Was fear something one could adapt to? Or had terror reached such a peak that her mind had simply gone numb? In place of fading fear, anger towards Jayden blazed clearly.

‘Even if I had pressed him, he would not have answered properly anyway.’

Even if Fiona had prepared in advance, Jayden would have deceived her. With that realization came a strange, stubborn defiance.

The moment she recalled that odious face, smug in its assumption that she would surely give up and submit to his words, any desire to turn back vanished completely. If she retreated now, Jayden would undoubtedly mock her, saying he knew she would.

‘I would rather die than witness that.’

In the end, her choice was the same as before. Instead of turning to flee, Fiona chose to move forward into the pitch-black unknown, forcing her reluctant feet to take step after step. Without even a wall to guide her this time, she had to crawl on hands and knees. As she inched towards the direction from which the sounds had come, the thing lurking in the darkness seemed to notice her movement and began to snarl fiercely once more.