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Chapter 08
What I Saw Back Then—Was It Really a Beast?
Julian quickly smoothed out his furrowed brows and placed his large hand on the table.
As if cooling his anger, he clenched his fist tightly, blue veins standing out over his pale skin.
Seeing Daphne remain silent, the duke slowly licked his lips.
“You should take responsibility for it.”
He tapped the table slowly with his long index finger.
“I’ll make sure no worse rumors spread,” Daphne said.
No matter how she thought about it, she still couldn’t understand what kind of apology he wanted.
She wanted to calm his anger quickly, but it felt like she had hit a wall from the very beginning.
A flash of red light made her tremble, and she instinctively lowered her gaze under the table.
“That’s not what I meant,” Julian said flatly.
Tap. Tap.
His long fingers moved in a slow rhythm.
Inside the moonlit glass greenhouse, his elegant hand looked completely out of place in this worn and dim space.
That very hand had ended the Parsalus War everyone thought could never be won.
Daphne struggled to steady her breathing. Finally, unable to endure his piercing gaze, she spoke.
“I sincerely apologize for the rumors. But I did not go there on purpose.”
She had attended the banquet because she was invited. She had the right to be there.
She had simply been attacked by a massive wolf in the imperial garden.
Why did he keep forcing an apology he wouldn’t even accept?
Her fingers fidgeted on the table.
“Look up,” he ordered coldly.
Slowly, her head rose.
His hair shimmered even in the faint moonlight. His half-lidded eyes were dry and languid, yet unsettling.
Why can he look at me so casually… while I can’t?
Her heart pounded irregularly, her ears turning red.
“Let me ask you one thing,” he said.
Startled, she nodded.
“Why were you walking alone on the shortcut to Ridot Palace? That path isn’t usually used at night.”
“Well…”
Because it was the shortest route.
Few people used it at night because it was isolated.
She hesitated, meeting his gaze.
A flash of red light flickered in his eyes, as if the same beast that once tried to devour her was looking at her again.
Her spine turned cold.
Maybe I was just delirious back then… or close to dying.
Julian’s beautiful but cold face and his red eyes…
She couldn’t bring herself to compare him to a beast.
Maybe… at most, a fierce pet belonging to a dangerous master.
“Then I had no intention of mentioning your pet,” Daphne said carefully.
Tap. Tap.
The tapping stopped immediately.
His red eyes deepened.
That’s it, she thought.
If the imperial consort disliked animals, then this matter had to be handled carefully.
“I won’t say anything that could cause problems because of your animal,” she added.
His gaze was like both a beast’s and a burning sun in the night sky.
She lowered her eyes again.
A strange man like him probably had strange tastes in pets.
“I wasn’t injured seriously, and I actually like animals, so you don’t need to worry,” she said.
“Is that so?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“But tell me…”
His voice turned softer, yet strangely twisted.
“What you saw back then… was it really a beast?”
A heavy silence fell.
The chair scraped against the ground.
Footsteps approached.
Then, suddenly, his fingers gripped her chin.
Her face was forced upward.
Julian smiled faintly, distorted.
Something felt wrong.
The wolf from that night overlapped with him in her memory.
How should I respond?
His gaze did not leave her.
She held her breath.
“Answer me,” he said again.
His thumb brushed lightly over her lips.
Daphne trembled.
“I… that…”
Each time she tried to speak, his touch interrupted her words.
Finally, she stopped breathing properly.
She remembered waking up that night with a black-haired man above her.
No trace of the wolf remained.
She couldn’t ignore it anymore.
The newspapers had not mentioned any wolf at all.
Only silence.
“I…” she whispered.
“What if I said I would save you?”
His voice suddenly changed.
“…What?” she blinked.
“I’ll save you.”
A fragile hope flickered in her eyes.
“Really…?”
Before she could stop herself, she bit his finger in confusion.
Julian’s eyes widened slightly.
Then he smiled, amused.
“Then just nod,” he said.
His grip loosened.
Daphne, almost unconsciously, nodded.
At that moment, the greenhouse doors burst open.
“Your Highness! Everything is ready!”
A large man rushed in, then froze.
Seeing the two of them, he panicked.
“I’m sorry! I seem to have interrupted something! I’ll come back later!”
