"Get out of the way or you'll die!" Duke Kleo almost drew the sword at his waist, intending to swing it at Lyra. His hatred of women's touch had a mysterious reason. His eyes narrowed with hatred, disgust.
Lyra jumped while glaring, her steps backing shakily. Her skirt fell miserably on the marble floor of the boutique. "Fo-forgive me, My Lord!" she said sincerely. 'Damn, why did I have to meet him after last night I had a bad dream about him?' she thought.
She heard the many murmurs and whispers of the noblewomen crowding around her, most of them assuming that she was about to be executed.
She unconsciously swallowed, then rubbed her smooth and beautiful neck. Her exposed shoulders, showing off her perfect and beautiful skin, might soon be covered in blood, including her beautiful face including her alluring blue eyes.
This couldn't happen!
"My apologies, My Lord! I am indeed guilty! I accidentally bumped into you. I have touched you." She prostrated on the floor, pressing her forehead. There was no time to be selfish, now the most important thing was that she could survive because she still had a lot of things she wanted to do.
"I will live a thousand years and dump many men!" That was her oath all along. Then if her life had to end today, all her struggles would be in vain. She wasn't even dating an Earl yet, and she intended to.
"I do deserve to be punished, but my wisdom and forgiveness are the best, My Lord!" she continued.
Tania bit her lip, her eyes were watery and red. She nearly burst into tears, ran to hug Lyra, and pulled her away from the place. But she knew her legs were too hard to move. Even her eyes were slowly blurring, indicating that she was about to pass out.
"I promise not to appear before you again, My Lord. If I break my word then I will receive any punishment, other than death." Lyra cursed herself, then slightly looked up to see Duke Kleo. She didn't expect much, except forgiveness amidst such a savage expression.
But what she found was emptiness. He was no longer in front of her. His tall stature, shining jet black hair, pale white skin, the lightest amber eye color had gone and disappeared, as if swallowed by the wind, or sinking into the boutique floor.
Lyra was like a fool, who seemed to want to seek her death. Her head turned in various directions, finding Duke Kleo chatting politely with the boutique owner. Gapping, she could barely believe what she saw. 'He ignored my apology and just dumped me like this?' she growled in her mind.
Not long after that, a man emerged. From the clothes he was wearing, he seemed like a guard, Duke Kleo's guard. "Just leave now, Miss," he whispered, his eyes barely blinking. He was captivated by Lyra. His black eyes couldn't be taken away from her figure, both her face and her curves were very alluring. Even his legs almost melted, wanting to grab her and hug her until the next day.
He shook his head as he realized. "Today is the death anniversary of Lady Helen, so Duke Kleo is in a gracious mood. He will forgive your mistakes today, Miss. So you better get going if you don't want to see him change his mind."
Lyra instantly grabbed Tania's arm after hearing the explanation of the duke's guard. She didn't want to risk her life today, and so on. Her skirt seemed to be blown by the wind, vanishing behind the boutique entrance.
She had heard the duke's guards yell at her, "Miss, what is your name?"
And Lyra just glared in response.
They had hidden a few blocks from the boutique, panting as if their lungs had dried. Lyra's hair was a little messy, and her feet hurt from wearing the slightly narrow shoes.
Tania looked more pathetic. Due to her soft personality, she rarely joined in agile activities like this. So she was the most tormented, flopping against a building wall and panting like a fish washed up on land. "Now what?" she asked with empty eyes.
"We're going to another boutique, which is very far from the earlier one."
…
"I think Duke Kleo has such a gentle character," Tania commented, after they reached the shop, ignoring Gerald who was frowning. They had managed to buy a red tight dress, with low cleavage, and a pretty puffy skirt.
"Are you blind and deaf? He had just executed his palace maid for accidentally touching him. Then why do you say that?" Lyra had just come out of the dressing cabin in her room, now in the mirror to see how extraordinary she looked. She was sure she could hook up with some nobles at tonight's party and managed to hook up a few when on her way to the boutique a while ago.
"Yeah, he's even still celebrating his mother's death anniversary, then decided to forgive your fatal mistake today. I think that's enough to label him a soft-hearted man."
"You are crazy!" Lyra commented, taking off the red dress she'd just bought and tucked it into the wardrobe. Now that she had changed into a casual outfit, headed for the shop to help sulking Gerald.
Tania told him what had just happened to them, an idea Lyra didn't like. "Really awesome right? Duke Kleo is very kind."
Lyra rolled her eyes.
While Gerald squeaked, as he baked buttered bread. "I thought you had a match with Duke Kleo. You two passed each other yesterday, right? You also hit him from behind, but you managed to hide before he saw your face."
Now Lyra just remembered that. "Oh, so that's the reason why I dreamed about him last night? Because we just met yesterday?"
Tania and Gerald frowned.
"You dreamed about Duke Kleo?" Tania asked innocently.
"What did you dream about? Don't tell me you dreamed of sleeping with him."
Lyra snorted, choosing not to answer Gerald's question as well as his criticism. The important thing was that she's still alive now. And all she needed to do was avoid Duke Kleo from getting into any more trouble.
…
Baron Jason seemed to see pearls melting a lot of honey as he watched Lyra's figure come out of the house. Her ideal body made him thirsty for many things, including the intimate touch and kiss they had been through for the past few weeks.
At that time he was wearing a moss-green royal suit, a dapper hat of the same color, and tall boots. The gold embroidery on his suits seemed to give him a dim lantern to help him get a better look at Lyra.
"You're so beautiful, My Dear," he complimented, leading her soft, gloved hand. His lips kissed the back of her hand, leading her to enter the carriage as if they were dancing.
"Thank you, My Lord." Lyra smiled sensually, her thick eyelashes flickering as if seductive. Her hand touched the button of his royal shirt, then played with it. "You shouldn't be in the same carriage as me, right? You can ride a horse like a knight, right?"
His face turned red, especially when his eyes caught sight of her exposed cleavage. Her healthy skin seemed to suck his attention, making it as if his hands were moving on their own to touch it.
Soft, like silk. Moist and chewy too.
"My Lord," Lyra hissed, kissing his cheek. "You'll have me tonight, but not this time. You remember right?"
"O-oh, yeah," he answered awkwardly. Then he got down from the chariot to get on his horse. But before that, he sucked her on the lips to his satisfaction, then chuckled as he got out of the carriage.
Lyra rolled her eyes in boredom. She wanted to end her temporary relationship with him soon, but this wasn't the time yet, until at least tomorrow morning. So she would wait, even if she had to endure his childish and weak personality.
The horse carriage moved, slightly scattering the skirt of her fiery red dress. Now and then she checked her appearance in the mirror she brought, styled her hair in a tight bun, checked the condition of her flawless skin, then her striking and alluring makeup. Everything was perfect.
Baron Jason bent down to welcome her out of the carriage once they reached their destination. As they walked hand in hand, his chest puffed out like he was the greatest man at the party. After all he, who was a loser man, was finally able to have a very beautiful lover like Lyra.
He was sure to get praise, as well as lose his single status. He was going to propose to Lyra that night! And he was sure his proposal would be accepted, considering how great they'd been kissing all along, and remembering she always telling him how much she loved him.
They arrived inside the banquet hall, greeting Viscountess Reesy as the owner of the house, Baron Jason's cousin. They chatted politely, lifting wine out of respect for one another.
All eyes turned to Lady Ressy, then to Lyra. The beauty of Lyra's curves, as well as her goddess-like appearance, had captivated the many noblemen who were guests at the party.
She grinned as she took a sip of her drink. 'I thought that the nobles' party would be a good place to find prey,' she thought. Until the moment when a countess spilled a drink on her dress.
The countess was one of the noblewomen at the boutique where Lyra had gotten into trouble this afternoon. From the look in her eyes, Lyra could tell that she spilled the drink on purpose.
But because Lyra didn't want to cause trouble and looked barren, she just smiled as a form of wisdom.
Then she hurriedly went to the washroom to clean her dirty dress. That's when bad things happened again. Her head hit something. The bump was hard enough until she lost her balance. Her leg slipped, making her nearly fall. But her hand managed to grab hold of something, sending her flying like she was doing an acrobat.
Everyone looked at her, gaping. Her face was red, but she smiled. "Haha, pardon my negligence." Then she stood up slowly, looking at the thing that had saved her from such an embarrassing incident.
And suddenly her eyes widened when she saw Duke Kleo was in front of her. And the bad thing was that her hand was gripping his collar to keep her from falling just a moment ago.
"Just because I forgave you this afternoon doesn't mean you can strangle my neck like this," he said slowly, as if ready to eat her. "Do you want to die?" he continued.
***