Chapter 26
He pulled Evelyn’s hand toward him, sliding the flawless ring onto her left middle finger. It was so heavy, it felt like it would drag her hand straight into the earth.
“I think of it as standing in for your eye.”
His chilling words were accompanied by a bright smile. Evelyn couldn’t shake the feeling that the emerald ring was a shackle. It felt heavier and more suffocating than the chains that once bound her limbs.
“…What happened to the prince?”
“Hm?”
With a soft raise of his eyebrows, he feigned ignorance. Evelyn shot him a look of disgust.
The first thing Laura had said when she ran to her — how the Duke had already returned. Laura, who couldn’t even catch the sarcasm in her voice. And the ring that had replaced the prince’s eye…
Could it be that prolonged exposure to such an illogical situation had begun to warp her mind? Evelyn uttered a thought she never would have considered before.
“It’s like it never happened.”
“Haha.”
The man chuckled pleasantly, his tone warm, before pulling something from his coat and offering it to her. It was a sealed letter, carefully wrapped.
“Seems like Adrian is quite sentimental about his long-lost cousin, isn’t he?”
With trembling hands, Evelyn broke the seal stamped with Adrian’s insignia. The wax fell away easily, and soon a flowing script appeared before her, the prince’s message.
The capital has already become quite warm. How is Brumfield in the north? I hope you’re doing well. You must still be in your honeymoon phase, so I imagine your days are filled with happiness.
Up to this point, she was familiar with the contents.
But below that, a different story began to unfold.
The words were filled with warmth and affection for family. There was no hint of the mission, no mention of any hidden agenda. With the mention of Princess Rowena’s memorial, it almost seemed as though Adrian considered Evelyn to be his true cousin…
And then, in that moment.
A serpent-like hand coiled around Evelyn’s waist. The heat of a body pressed against her back. A soft breath brushed her long hair. A tender kiss grazed the nape of her neck.
“Eve.”
He whispered her name, his lips still lingering on her skin. His breath branded her, leaving a mark she couldn’t shake.
“You said you were a ‘real’ princess, didn’t you?”
Just as Evelia Locke became a fugitive for the assassination of the royal family, Evelyn Dalebury… no, Evelyn Brumfield, had become both a princess and the Duke’s wife. All of it seemed as natural as the truth itself, even to Prince Adrian, who had orchestrated it all.
The letter in Evelyn’s hand crumpled. Her breath became shallow, the air hard to take in. The arms that circled her waist, or the light grip on her shoulder, felt like thick ropes binding a condemned prisoner, tightening around her with each passing second.
“What… what are you?”
The question slipped from her trembling lips, but before she could even brace herself, her entire body went rigid, her spine cold with fear.
“Are you still wondering that?”
The hand resting on her delicate shoulder slid down her arm. With a gentle yet firm grip, he pulled her wrist up, pressing his lips to the back of her hand.
Although she couldn’t see the Duke’s expression, Evelyn knew. She could feel it — he was smiling.
The sound of lips parting reached her ears, and in an instant, the man spun her around to face him. Evelyn looked up at him with trembling eyes, meeting the haunting beauty of his face as a deep smile stretched across his features.
He held her gaze, and in a voice like silk, Calix whispered.
“Anything.”
It wasn’t a refusal.
It wasn’t a vague answer.
The intensity of his blue eyes made Evelyn feel like she couldn’t breathe. A chilling sense of dread washed over her. It was telling her she would never escape this man, never break free.
“Eve.”
The man, capable of becoming anything, pulled Evelyn closer by the waist and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
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