After sleeping for a long while, I woke up in the dead of night. Only after eating a late dinner did I belatedly remember the books I’d carelessly thrown on the street. 

It had been the only copy that came in. Whatever my immediate situation, I’d decided to cast aside my worries, so I mustered the courage to go outside.

I opened the door and carefully stepped out. Craning my neck to look left and right, the dim street was completely empty. Just as I thought I could comfortably search for the books and was about to go all the way out, something caught the edge of my vision.

“Huh…?”

The books and fruit I’d thrown away were intact, placed neatly in new bags beside the door.

A face suddenly came to mind. My brow furrowed sharply and my fists clenched on their own. 

What on earth did this mean? 

I agonized for a long while over whether to take them inside or not, but there was no right answer, and I decided to embrace those innocent things.

Throughout the early morning, I kept feeling like I’d dig into what his incomprehensible actions were trying to convey, so I opened a book. 

When I finally finished it and closed the book, a reddish dawn was breaking. I stretched fully and washed the fruit I’d brought in yesterday. I worried it might be damaged from hitting the ground hard, but fortunately it was clean, so I devoured it deliciously.

Then I went outside. I had no food for today’s meals, so I needed to shop. But the moment I opened the door, I was so startled I gasped.

“Hello, Liv.”

He was leaning against the exact spot where the books and fruit had been yesterday. His curved eyes were flawless. I quickly calmed my startled heart and ignored his greeting. 

Without responding, I passed right by him, and footsteps followed a beat late, pattering gently to match my stride.

He followed me around like a child. I wondered if he was trying to play riddles with me at this age. 

His incredibly irritating behavior made me want to snap at him, but I was sick of even exchanging words, so I endured and endured again. However, God mercilessly didn’t take my side but broke my hand instead.

“Liv, you should eat this too.”

It was so absurd I laughed hollowly. Hamilton stood before me with a face colored by confusion, looking between me and him alternately. 

Ridiculously, the person who’d just flustered several people seemed to have no interest in others, busy doing his own thing. With a harmless smile, he practically snatched the bread from Hamilton and personally placed it in my basket.

“What are you doing right now—”

“Aren’t you going to buy fruit?”

His shameless retort made my blood run cold instead. But Hamilton came first. Even though he’d paid, if someone had snatched the bread from his hands, it was natural he’d feel bad.

“Hamilton, I’ll apologize for him. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, uh. No. It’s fine. Come again.”

“We should get going, Lerry.”

He interrupted Hamilton, who was waving both hands. I wasn’t even amused that he already knew my alias. I’d meant to stop by the fruit shop, but all my motivation had completely vanished, so I trudged back home.

“You seem close with him.”

When we reached the front of the house, he—who’d been quietly following at a distance—suddenly approached and pressed one hand against the door. He intended to hold me there.

“Move your hand so I can open the door.”

“Are you close with him, Lerry?”

At his lowered voice, I tilted my head at an angle. In a position like I was half-embraced, he looked down at me with his head cocked to the side. His tone was light, but his eyes were terrifyingly cold.

“It’s none of your business.”

“Why isn’t it my business? You’re mine.”

I closed my mouth at his shameless words. Even the time spent dealing with him felt wasteful.

“If you don’t move, I’ll scream.”

When I glared at him through gritted teeth, he—who’d been confronting me for a while—raised the white flag first.

“…That’s so scary, I have no choice.”

The moment he removed his arm, I slipped inside and locked the door. Even when he’d quietly followed me to the bookstore and vegetable shop, I’d let my guard down, which was my mistake. 

Who knew he’d blindside me like this at the bakery?

I was the fool for thinking simply when I knew better than anyone that he was a man I couldn’t let my guard down around for even a moment. 

The next day, the day after that, and the many days that followed, he kept following me around. As his strange behavior continued, the townspeople’s gazes gradually thickened with curiosity.

Starting with those who witnessed him and me bickering in the middle of the street on the first day, stories about me and him spread through this small town like wildfire. In a town that was already tediously idle, this was nothing less than very entertaining kindling.

“Lerry. This town is small.”

Mrs. Hena whispered as she handed over the paid-for book. She didn’t forget to glance at him standing in the distance with narrowed eyes. It meant to be careful. 

A young unmarried woman and an able-bodied man who followed her around ceaselessly—she gave this advice thinking of me, knowing how we’d be gossiped about.

“Yes. Thank you always, ma’am.”

I spoke sincerely and left the bookstore. Once again, elegant footsteps that sounded graceful even just from the sound followed, like treading on clouds. When we passed several alleys and reached the front of the house, I finally said what I’d decided after days of deliberation.

“What exactly do you want to say?”

“It’s a bit long if I tell you everything.”

“Just tell me the main point briefly.”

“At least an hour.”

I bit my lip irritably. The situation that kept continuing like word games, one thing leading to another, was unpleasant. It seemed like he’d torment me forever unless I gave him what he wanted, so I’d reluctantly dealt with him, only for him to come at me like this.

No, no. This man was always like this. Self-mockery crossed my lips.

“But… is it okay to keep doing this here?”

He swept the surroundings with just his eyes. A passerby was openly watching us.

“I don’t mind.”

A gentle smile spread across his lips. My lips hardened like stone.

I desperately didn’t want to let him into the house, but I had no other choice. If we went somewhere like a cafe, we’d become a spectacle, and if I looked for a deserted place, I couldn’t know what might happen to me.

“Let’s go to my house and talk.”

“I was curious anyway. Thanks for the invitation.”

The corners of his mouth rose in a smooth arc. Terribly beautiful and enchantingly harmless. But I couldn’t relax my guard for even a moment. Beyond his deep blue eyes, calm waves before a storm struck rippled terrifyingly still.

“It’s cozy.”

After leisurely looking around various parts of my home, he delivered his brief impression. To the eyes of a Duke, it probably looked worse than a bathroom. Cozy—that was a generous evaluation.

“Why did you come looking for me?”

I asked him the main point without even offering a glass of water as we sat facing each other.

“No, before that, how did you know?”

Exactly when did he find me? No matter how much I retraced, there was no part where I could have left a trail.

As I ran my hand through my hair and frowned, he—who’d been silently watching me—leisurely parted his lips instead. Just like when I first met him long ago, he was very relaxed, arrogant, and half-mad.

That appearance made me think of him mocking me in front of some unknown person beyond a thick door, and my breath nearly quickened. If only it weren’t for the words that followed from those lips.

“You have a baby.”

My eyes widened. All the blood in my body ran cold. How, how—

Instead of me, frozen with my mouth slightly open, he broke the chilling silence.

“How could I leave our baby—yours and mine—alone?”

“…How, how did you know?”

Denying it now was useless. The predator had already discovered and more the expression that had crumbled at the surprise attack. That man couldn’t not know.

“Liv. I’m hurt. Every time you underestimate me.”

He frowned lightly, truly seeming pained.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”

“…”

“When I saved you from the burning house. When that bastard tried to harm you. And besides that.”

“…”

“There’s nothing I don’t know about you, Liv.”

His eyes, completely devoid of laughter, curved thinly. My body, frozen unable to move, felt like a snake was crawling over it, my fine hairs standing on end. Nothing he doesn’t know. Then knowing everything, he’d left me alone all this time…

Watching my face slowly contort, he laughed lowly.

“Liv. I made a promise with Lucas and decided to protect you. So from the moment Lucas died, it was natural I had to watch over you.”

And now you’re mine.

At the whispered addition, I unconsciously stepped back. Ernst, who’d been staring at that sight, smiled slightly. While holding a chilling coldness in his eyes.

“Are you afraid of me?”

I returned an answer with silence. His expression gradually sank like it was submerging.

“I can’t help it. I’m your benefactor with a duty to protect you.”

That d*mn benefactor. I’d clearly said I didn’t need such a thing.

I put on a cold mask. Knowing everything was deception riddled with lies, I couldn’t stand to see Lucas placed on that three-inch tongue.

“Don’t you dare speak Lucas’s name. And don’t talk about protection or benefactors either.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“If you want to push it that way, go ahead. I have no more reason to talk with you, Duke.”

“Liv.”

“If you’re thinking of kidnapping me, you’d better stop. I’d rather just die.”

Of course that wasn’t true. If I were alone maybe, but now a life was growing inside my body. 

Since he’d come knowing I was pregnant, it made things easier. He seemed to value the child, so all the more he couldn’t touch me.

The moment I spoke of death, the leisurely air that had surrounded him tightened terrifyingly, like yanking a leash hard. For someone who’d known I was hiding here all along but pretended not to, his reaction was cold.

“You shouldn’t say things like that carelessly, Liv.”

“Maybe I won’t if you leave.”

“Liv.”