Lyra's fear looked endless when she saw Duke Kleo still growling disgustedly in front of her, squeezing her body, and making her breath hard. His hot breath snatched her nose, wafting across the skin of her face like it was going to burn her. Her tears were melting, her weak, helpless gaze now pleading with him.
"I don't even know what I did wrong." Lyra's voice trembled and cracked, in an unstable wave of ups and downs. Her knees were even weak, and she wasn't sure why she could stand at this point. Maybe because of the pressure from him, as well as her hopes of staying alive.
But he didn't say anything. His suffocating anger had held all the words in his throat. A series of accusations, as well as annoying expressions, swirled in his brain, overlapping, and like a tangled and chaotic string of ropes. His fists clenched hard, almost hitting the wall beside her head, until he suddenly backed away, and left her.
Lyra's knees immediately went limp, and she collapsed on the floor horribly. Her face was filled with tears, while her back was shaking violently, failing to support herself. Shortly after that, Ella and Gena burst into the room, their faces both worried and regretful.
"My Lady," Ella said, slumping on the floor as if kneeling in front of Lyra. Gena did the same, failing to make a sound. "His Grace asked us to take you to your room. You must stay there."
Grinning, Lyra looked up as if someone had grabbed her hair. Her eyes stared blankly at Ella, while her lips froze without being able to move an inch. The fog seemed to fill her brain making it difficult for her to think. All of this happened so suddenly, so dramatically. She didn't even get a chance to breathe. "Why? Why should I stay in my room?"
"His Grace decided to lock you up and give you the consequences." Ella didn't have the guts to look at Lyra's face or eyes. The weight on her shoulders felt enormous.
"B-but why?" Lyra's shoulders felt weak again, then wobbled and almost fell to the floor, if only Ella and Gena hadn't caught her quickly. Trembling, her gaze void, her face frozen. "I don't even know what I did wrong. Why is he doing this to me?"
Gena almost opened her mouth, but there was a loud bang on the door, followed by the voice of a doorman.
"You must take Miss Lyra to her room now, or we will have to!"
"Come on, my lady." Ella now lifted Lyra's body after hearing the threat. "His Grace wanted us to take you, I think that was one of his generosity. We'll try to find out what happened. We'd better go to your room now."
Lyra nodded and weakly walked towards her room. Even though Ella and Gena led her, she still had trouble walking. Her knees seemed to have lost ground, all that was left was the cold wind that seemed to be empty below.
The door to her room was opened, and she was placed carefully on the bed, frozen like an insane person.
The three of them were silent, and could only take a very long breath. Then a voice was heard from outside, it was Duke Kleo's voice, following his stout and a tall figure in the middle of the doorway. "Leave her alone! Never let anyone enter her room or talk to her without my approval! If there is someone who disobeys then I will give a very severe punishment."
Lyra looked up, protesting, almost crying again. Her lips were pursed tightly, with a glint of irritation in her eyes. "Why are you doing this to me? What did I do wrong?" Suddenly she ran up to the duke as if her legs were made of very sturdy turbines.
She forgot the feeling of weakness that had held her. Her hand smacked his chest. "Why are you torturing me like this? Why do you always give me pressure? What did I do to you now? Why are you always mad at me? Just kill me!!!!"
Choking, Lyra backed away after discovering her mistake. Her hand quickly covered her mouth, praying that Duke Klo would not hear her last words. But it seemed too late. His face looked even darker than before.
Her body jerked forward, as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her closer. Once again the hot breath from him wafted out like it was burning her, making her guts tumble in the blink of an eye.
"So that's what you chose?" grunted Duke Kleo, bringing his lips close to Lyra's ear, as if he wanted to pronounce death in as much detail as possible. "Would you rather die now?"
"N-no, My Lord. I just misspoke. I don't….Argh!" Her body jerked backward, though not to the extreme. Shortly after that, she saw him closing her bedroom door violently and leaving an echo throughout the room.
When she was able to stand up straight, she finally realized that Ella and Gena were no longer there. It was then that she knew that she had been officially locked up to suffer the consequences of a mistake she didn't know about.
Once again her body fell to the floor, curled up crying. She hated crying, but just this once she would be free to do so.
Meanwhile, Duke Kleo rushed to his study, canceling his holiday event. With a huff, he pulled up a chair, as if to break it, then gasped as if he were dropping an explosive on the enemy. His hands reached for important documents and began to study them.
He thought his frustration and anger would be replaced by work, but he was wrong. It didn't subside and was even greater as he remembered Lyra's last words.
"Just kill me!!!"
His fists were clenched, his face was red like he was about to spit fire, and his brain might explode any minute. Finally, he pushed the table in front of him, slamming the documents in annoyance.
Stefanus, who had been escorting him all this time, sighed heavily. "My Lord," he said very politely. He had seen the incident that happened today, although he wasn't sure what the root of the problem was.
At once he sees Lyra, who happens to be a girl held captive in a prison of his master's invisible love. Though he had been interested in her since they had met several times in town when he was escorting the duke. But it turned out he lost the starting point.
"Isn't it too much to lock Miss Lyra in the room? From what I have observed, it seems that she doesn't know what she did wrong," continued Stefanus. If he couldn't have Lyra, it might be enough for him to see her happy. But he did not find it all that morning. And instead, he saw her weeping in weakness and fear.
"I already said Baron Jason's name in her face. Shouldn't that give her a hint to know why I'm angry?" protested Duke Kleo, still annoyed. His nostrils puffed up and let out a scorching hot breath.
"I don't know what the problem is..."
"He proposed to her," the duke interrupted as if he didn't want to be single-handedly blamed. "And she rejected him, just like what she did to me."
"W-what?" Now Stefanus was stunned, and at the same time did not understand what was going on. He had only heard rumors that Duke Kleo had a special relationship with Lyra, without hearing about the proposal, marriage, and so on.
Duke Kleo turned to him angrily. "Yes, we have slept together, and therefore we have to get married. But she turned me down, even after I proposed to her nicely!"
Heart attack! Stephen could have had a heart attack if he wasn't a knight. Even he was coughing non-stop, too weak to take the attack of this shocking news.
***