“I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”

Perhaps it was not her place to worry about such matters after all. Noticing the change in the Duke’s expression, Bella apologized immediately.

“Quick to admit your fault. I like that.”

Logan let out a faint, almost mocking laugh. He had wondered what a patient who had only just risen from her sickbed might say. Instead of gratitude, however, she suggested that his actions had gone too far.

“So, you’re worried that while I’m staying at my fiancée’s estate, I might become the subject of an unsavory rumor involving a maid? Even if the servants are warned to keep quiet, news has a way of getting out of these walls. Once the newspapers start printing their stories, the rumors will spiral out of control. When that happens, it won’t only affect my hotels or the Fraser name — it will stain the Everett family as well.”

He understood exactly what she meant.

Far too well.

But that was not something she needed to concern herself with. Did she think so little of him that a rumor could damage his reputation?

Neither possibility pleased him.

Logan rose slowly from his seat and stepped towards her. As she watched him approach, Bella carefully set down her cutlery, her movements deliberate and restrained.

“You must have had quite a headache, worrying about me with that tiny head of yours.”

Leaning against the table, he looked down at her with a faintly amused expression.

She felt an instinctive sense of danger flare up inside her. Bella stood up hastily, pretending to tidy the tableware. However, every attempt to move away from him felt forced and unnatural.

“I’ve finished eating, so I’ll—”

Before she could finish, Logan stepped fully into her path, blocking her escape.

“Why? Planning to run away again?”

The tray trembled in her hands.

As if bringing back the memory she most wanted to forget was not bad enough, he pushed her further.

He realized that she had been avoiding him for a reason other than him offering her his bed.

“Are you afraid I’ll kiss you again?”

‘Afraid he’ll kiss me again? Is that even a question?’

Bella turned her head stiffly, like a broken doll. The fact that he remembered everything so clearly made her want to disappear into a hole.

Yet Logan remained as composed as ever, saying things that would make anyone else blush with horror.

“That night… you were very drunk, Your Grace. And I failed to respond properly. It was an accident.”

Bella forced herself to speak evenly, clinging to what little composure she could gather.

“An accident?”

“Yes. An accident. An unforeseen mistake.”

Bella looked him directly in the eye.

Don’t waver.

That kiss had been an accident. No feelings had been exchanged. It could be erased as though it had never happened.

“So it would be best if we considered it as something that never—”

“I don’t like that.”

“If anyone overheard, they might misunderstand, so from now on— Pardon?”

“I said I don’t like that.”

Without hesitation, Logan cut her off, his refusal sharp and unmistakable. His tone made it clear that he had no intention of hearing any more excuses.

He regarded the stunned maid before him. She wasn’t strikingly beautiful, yet once someone looked at her, it was strangely difficult to look away. The confusion on her face was painfully obvious.

If anyone had the right to demand an explanation, it was him.

If they had kissed, then they had kissed. Why was she pretending it had never happened? At times, she seemed perfectly ordinary — quiet and unremarkable.

Then, without warning, she would say or do something so unexpected that it unsettled him completely.

“I—I’ve always heard that a kiss is something shared only between people who care for each other.”

Bella stammered, clearly flustered.

“If someone heard you say that, they might think only married couples are allowed to have s*x.”

He muttered it casually, almost to himself.

Bella’s expression became even more complicated. Her wide, unguarded eyes seemed to ask if that weren’t the case.

Logan felt faintly dizzy.

‘She’d probably believe that a child is conceived simply by a husband and wife holding hands in their sleep.’

Where would one even begin to correct that? Excusing it as the naivety of someone raised in the countryside felt inadequate. The people he knew in the capital were far from innocent.

Curiosity stirred within him. Rather than dismissing the topic, he chose to investigate further.

“If I told you I was interested in you, would you then admit that we kissed?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’d be mistaken.”

Bella answered without hesitation.

The idea that the duke might harbor interest in her was absurd. She was certain of it.

“And how do you presume to decide what I feel?”

“Because someone as noble as you would never take interest in a maid as insignificant as me.”

The nobles did not consider the commoners, their servants, to be part of the same world as them.

The worlds of the nobility and the commoners were as distinct as oil and water. Any interest the nobles showed was merely passing curiosity.

‘The duke is no different.’

It was true that he had treated her well. He had shown her consideration and offered to help her on more than one occasion, for which she was very grateful. But that was all. Bella had never expected or wanted anything more.

‘I nearly let myself be swept away that night…’

But when she heard that name, it was as if cold water had been poured over her head. It was a stark reminder that fairy-tale endings were not meant for someone like her.

“That unfortunate incident the other night happened because you mistook me for another young lady.”

Although there had been no public scandal aside from his engagement to Miss Amelia, it was inconceivable that a man like him had never been in love before. In fact, it would have been stranger if he had.

“Which young lady?”

Logan’s eyes flickered slightly when Bella spoke.

Was there really no other way to find out?

Bella answered plainly, giving the name she had heard.

“You called me Isabella.”

When she reminded him that that was when he had kissed her, Logan let out a breath and pressed a hand to his forehead. Several emotions flashed across his face.

“Please don’t worry. I have no intention of telling anyone—”

“Isabella.”

He interrupted at last, before she could finish.

“She was my first love.”

There was a faint tremor in his voice, as if he were making a sacred confession. His expression softened at the mere thought of her.

The room fell so deeply silent that the ticking of the clock sounded unnaturally loud.

Bella could not react.

Was she even supposed to hear this?

It was fortunate she was the only one present. Otherwise, by tomorrow, the newspapers might run headlines like: “Shocking Confession—Logan Fraser, Duke and Head of Fraser Enterprises, Admits to a First Love.” Alongside a portrait of him and some unknown woman.

“I see. Then she truly has nothing to do with me.”

Bella answered as calmly as she could, forcing her voice to remain steady. But her composure shattered with his next words.

“She does. You resemble her.”

Very much so.

Logan fixed his gaze on her, his expression emphasizing the unspoken words.

Her lips parted slightly in shock. For a moment, the faint outline of a long-lost girl seemed to superimpose itself on her face.

Watching her, Logan offered a faint, bittersweet smile. Then, as though he had just remembered something, he reached into his pocket.

“Your hand.”

The command was short and simple. Yet there was still a hint of gentleness in his voice.

Without thinking, Bella held out her hand.

Logan dropped something into it.

It was wrapped in yellow paper and crinkled softly as it landed in her small hand. It was a lemon candy.