So the Duchess Disappeared

64. Spread Shadows

It was an eerie statement.

Psyche didn’t even know what she was saying. With various emotions reaching their peak, her words and actions seemed to leap around like a flame.

Accepting Clint as family, the desire to rely on him clashed sharply with the harsh reality, tearing at her.

Clint’s pupils shook violently at her words.

He couldn’t understand the truth behind Psyche’s words.

Feeling as if her gaze could pierce his heart at any moment, he furrowed his brow.

“What on earth…?”

In response to Clint’s puzzled expression, Psyche replied with a bitter smile. Tears that had been welling up in the corners of her eyes spilled down like dewdrops on a crescent moon-shaped face.

Then, extending her arms, she wrapped them around Clint’s neck.

While holding him close, she whispered as if to herself.

“No, I’m just… okay with dying… if another life comes to me…”

Psyche released the strength in her arms, allowing Clint to see her.

Then, with her own hands, she untied the straps around her chest. The skin, reddened slightly from the wounds, faintly shimmered in Clint’s eyes between her trembling fingers.

“Clint…”

Clint kissed Psyche’s ear.

The hot breath dispersed, making him dizzy.

Soon, the woman’s shadow, swaying in the moonlight, glittered as it received the light.

He looked at the bruises on her neck and chest with pity in his eyes.

“Clint…”

Psyche called him so pitifully that he didn’t know what to do.

He kissed Psyche’s face all over.

Wiping away tears with his lips, he kissed her ear, cheek, corners of her mouth, and lips. There was no place untouched as the small kisses continued.

And soon, passionate kisses followed.

“Ah…”

A sensation overwhelmed his peripheral nerves, dominating his entire body.

Psyche, unwittingly moaning, blushed so deeply from embarrassment that she covered her entire face with one hand.

Clint chuckled softly and removed her hand covering her face.

“I…”

Psyche avoided his gaze. But Clint, with a strange smile, kissed her lips deeply between her hands. His warm breath reached between her fingers, causing her to tremble.

Then, looking at Psyche under him again, he swept her waist and spoke his words from earlier.

“…Every part of you is beautiful, my lady.”

Was it a misconception that his words sounded more seductive because of the warmth of his hand on her waist?

“That, that kind of words…”

“It’s true. Your slightly lowered eyes, sometimes pouted lips, I love them all… Do you know that?”

He tightened his grip on Psyche’s waist. Clint even found her lowered eyelashes adorable because of it.

“Uh…!”

He soon looked at the scars on her face and kissed them. Passing through her neck to her collarbone, pink flowers bloomed around her chest.

Then, their shadows slowly began to merge into one.

❖ ❖ ❖

Psyche sighed heavily as she recalled the events of last night.

Sadness and loneliness with Clint…

She didn’t regret what happened yesterday, but just thinking about it made her face flush.

She still felt Clint’s scent emanating from her body.

He held her tightly again last night.

It wasn’t just an act that could be seen as a contractual relationship.

“…”

Psyche knew that much.

“Yesterday…”

Her heart suddenly grew noisy.

“What on earth were you thinking…”

Even amidst her cluttered thoughts, she suddenly became curious about Clint’s sincerity. He had been with Psyche all night until she fell asleep, and when she woke up in the morning, he was still by her side. Clint was continuously attentive to Psyche’s mood.

“Ha…”

Following Clint’s words, Psyche thought that if she could have another child with him, she would be willing to die. Half of it was sincere.

And the night with Clint was warmer than she had thought.

The more she thought, the more frustrating it became as there seemed to be no answer.

“Ah!”

Psyche, realizing that there would be no conclusion anyway, just stared blankly into space.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

As soon as the knocking stopped, Helen and Alexa entered.

“Sis, haven’t you gotten ready yet?”

“Ah…”

Today was the day Kylie would leave for the Tarun Kingdom. A small party was planned for her, both to send her off and for Psyche.

That’s why Clint hadn’t been seen since the morning.

“We have to get ready…”

“Can I help?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Helen puffed her cheeks and pretended to be disappointed.

“You always like to do things alone, sis.”

“It’s more convenient. Will everyone else be going out?”

In fact, Psyche hadn’t slept much, and she didn’t feel like doing anything on what she thought was the last day she would see Kylie.

As she watched the two leaving, Psyche suddenly became curious and stopped Alexa.

“Oh, Alexa, can you stay for a moment?”

Helen glanced at Alexa and quickly disappeared.

Psyche absentmindedly rummaged through her belongings and found her contraceptive pills.

“Huh?”

“What are you looking for? Can I help?”

“Ah… no.”

Alexa was watching from a distance.

“Why, didn’t I usually have tea made from warm water every morning? Haven’t you seen it?”

Contraceptive pills made from jasmine leaves looked just like tea leaves, so there was no need to hide them, making it more convenient. Unless they were from the Alistair Estate, it would be difficult for anyone to know what they were for.

“Ah, are you talking about the tea you enjoyed drinking, my lady?”

“Yeah… it’s not here. Can’t be helped.”

I stopped Alexa, who was about to leave to look around. Psyche quickly changed the subject, thinking that if she went back to the mansion, she could make and drink it there.

Psyche had been wanting to ask Alexa questions since earlier.

“Alexa, how long have you been a knight of the Alistair Estate?”

“Ah…”

A little surprised by the unexpected question, Alexa sincerely answered her question.

“Our family has been serving the Valentine’s as knights since my father’s time. I’ve been training at the Alistair Estate with my brother since I was very young.”

Come to think of it, Psyche realized there was a lot she didn’t know about Alexa. She widened her eyes in surprise.

“Brother? Alexa has a brother?”

“Oh, didn’t you know?”

Psyche stopped dressing and looked at Alexa.

“Alejandro Brighton, the Chief Aide to the Duke, is my brother.”

“What?”

Psyche was taken aback.

“Haha, I thought you knew.”

“They’re so different.”

Their hair color and appearance were too different. It was not easy for them to remind each other of one another.

Psyche gave up trying to find Alejandro’s face on Alexa’s face, thinking their names were somewhat similar.

Alexa laughed, saying that most people reacted the same way.

“But they are truly siblings born to the same father and mother, despite being so different.”

Psyche’s mouth fell open at that.

“Why suddenly ask about that?”

Psyche nodded again and opened her mouth again to say what she had originally planned.

“Then did Alexa know about Clint, or His Excellency, since you were young?”

“I did, we three siblings often sparred together.”

“I see…”

She became somewhat curious about Clint’s childhood that she didn’t know about. Alexa quickly added.

“The Duke didn’t entrust Lady’s security to just anyone. Of course, His Excellency trusts me more, but…”

Alexa wanted to return the favor of being entrusted with Psyche’s security by the Duke.

Psyche nodded in agreement and opened her mouth again.

“Then can you tell me about his childhood?”

Following her desire to know Clint’s sincerity, the subsequent thought was that she didn’t know him at all.

“The Duke’s childhood… Lady Rosa knows well about it.”

“Lady Rosa?”

“Yes, since the Duke lost his mother at a young age, Lady Rosa took on the role of a mother.”

She had known for a long time that he had lost his mother at a young age, but now it felt even more poignant.

She suddenly became curious about Clint Valentine.

Not just as a contractual relationship, or as a Duke. She wanted to know what kind of person he was.

She thought it would be easier to understand his sincerity if she knew how he grew up.

It was a question asked subtly to Alexa, thinking that it would be easier to get to know him if she knew about his childhood.

But contrary to her expectations, Alexa seemed a little embarrassed, then carefully observed Psyche’s expression.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask the Duke directly?”

Without much hesitation, Alexa replied succinctly.

“That… Still, it might be better to ask him directly…”

Psyche inwardly thought, ‘If I could ask him, I would have already.’ and made an awkward expression.

“His Excellency did not spend a happy childhood. The previous Duke was very strict, and… Compared to the previous Duchess… Ah, well, please listen to the Duke’s story.”

“I see…”

As if to say, ‘Anyway, it’s not like that,’ Alexa nodded and closed her mouth.

Psyche quietly nodded her head. She knew that his childhood was not a happy one as it was a well-known story.

Thinking that she couldn’t get answers from Alexa, Psyche turned her gaze and took off her negligee.

Seeing her like that, Alexa called out to her in a horrified voice.

“La… Lady!”

Seeing Alexa looking at her with a shocked expression, Psyche inadvertently looked down at herself and was startled, hastily pulling her negligee back up.