\'She shouldn\'t have accepted him!\' shrieked Duke Kleo inwardly, while his eyes flashed an aura of death as well as fear as if death was crawling under his feet, ready to swoop on him.

Time seemed to slow down and even really stop when Marquess Helmut had expressed his intention to make Lyra become his mistress.  Now they just need to hear the answer from her.

"She likes me too, Kleo.  Will you sell her to me?"

If only Marquess Helmut had inquired about Duke Kleo\'s willingness to sell Lyra, without needing to make a statement saying that she liked the marquess, perhaps the duke would have quickly rejected the offer.

Why did he have to sell Lyra? That girl?  His beloved girl?  His soul mate?  His lover? His woman?  His future wife?  The mother-to-be of his children?  There is no single most basic reason that makes him have to do that when he wants to marry her as soon as possible.

However, after hearing the statement that Lyra also loved Marquess Helmut, Duke Kleo\'s eyes suddenly darkened, filled with soot and smoke from his burning heart.

\'That\'s a lie,\' he thought confidently.  \'Helmut must be lying.  There\'s no way Lyra also likes him when she enjoys our intimacy.  He must just want to make a mess, just like Baron Jason.  I will prove it.  I will call Lyra and embarrass Helmut.\'

So he instructed Mr. Bertus to call Lyra while listening to stories from Marquess Helmut about his intimacy with Lyra.  It wasn\'t a very good version of the story, even if it was just a lie, because all of it made Duke Kleo jealous, hurting his heart as well as making his lungs seem to constrict.

That was the reason his face looked dark and ghastly when Lyra entered the hall.

From the start, misunderstandings had reigned supreme, making things even more chaotic.  Duke Kleo, who had wanted to gently welcome Lyra\'s arrival, suddenly had to be disappointed when sawing her glanced admiringly at his cousin, with a look she never even gave him.  He knows she likes him too, one thing he recognizes when they are in the park.  That should be enough to make him relieved, but it wasn\'t.

Because one\'s gaze can\'t lie.  Lyra was more interested in Marquess Helmut than him.  Seeing them sitting side by side, seeing them looking at each other like real lovers, seeing them holding each other\'s hands had created a new sense of envy in his heart.

\'Why have I never got such sincere and gentle treatment from her?\' he thought tormented.

His confidence became very low, especially after seeing how enthusiastic Lyra was about getting an offer from Marquess Helmut.

"Will you be my mistress?"

What\'s so good about that offer? Mistress is not higher than a wife\'s position, especially since the wife gets the greatest love of anyone.  Duke Kleo couldn\'t understand Lyra, nor could he understand himself.  Why is he so pathetic?  Is that why she doesn\'t like him?

"I will, My Lord," Lyra nodded innocently and without even turning to look at Duke Kleo, without noticing how much she hurt him.  "I want to be your mistress, My Lord."

Marquess Helmut\'s eyes lit up after hearing her answer, in contrast to Duke Kleo\'s fragile-looking eyes.  The marquess squeezed her once more, gently stroked her cheek.  "Good answer!"  he nodded proudly, smiling together with her.

His face turned to Duke Kleo, with triumphant pride and suspicious and curious gazes mixed into one.  "She has accepted my offer.  How much should I pay you?  I\'ll take her away from you now so you can\'t see her again."

"I told you to ask her this," said Duke Kleo, furious, disgusted, and disappointed, without looking at Marquess Helmut.  "But I never said that I would let you carry her away."  As a bullet fired, he threatened his cousin with his gaze.

"Now I know how much she regrets her mistakes."  Glancing at Lyra.  "I know that she is not at all sorry no matter how big the sin.  Thank you, Cousin, for coming to give me that hint.  Now let me take you home, while I will punish her soon.  Maybe the execution is better than anything else."

Lyra and Marquess Helmut both stared at each other, followed by the appearance of several guards dragging her body out of the hall after Duke Kleo shouted, "Take her and lock her in the dungeon!"

Dungeon?  Didn\'t she hear wrong?

The guard figure had taken hold of her arms, gripping them so tightly it might have left a red mark on her skin.  Her limbs tried to bear the weight of her body so as not to leave her current position.  "My Lord!  My-My Lord!"  she shouted, looking up and watching the two guards dragging her, seeing Duke Kleo moving away or her body did.

\'No!  I don\'t want to be executed!  I have to apologize to Duke Kleo!\' So after that, she shouted, squealing like an animal injured and in pain, bleeding and near death.  But no matter how loud she screamed, no matter how sore her throat was, nothing could melt Duke Kleo\'s anger towards her.

Ella and Gena stared wide-eyed at the sight of her being dragged away, like two gruesomely carved statues.

"My Lady!  What happened?  Where are you guys going to take her?"  The two maids disappeared after Lyra, stumbling from the confusion that had trapped them.

Duke Kleo got up to escort Marquess Helmut, walking upright while ignoring the questioning gazes of the servants and guards around him.

"What happened?  Why was Miss Lyra being dragged away like that?"

"Does this have anything to do with Lord Helmut?"

"Is it possible that Miss Lyra was one of Lord Helmut\'s people?"

"Impossible! She and His Grace seem to like each other."

"And also enjoying each other\'s bodies."

The servant and guards nodded.  "I remember the loud moan of Miss Lyra and His Grace.  They like each other.  But why did this happen?"

"Are you going to execute her?"  asked Marquess Helmut before literally getting on his horse.  "Though I can give you something more profitable.  I will take care of her, making sure she never comes up in front of you while I gain the advantage by controlling her body."

"I\'m glad you gave me such a good offer, Cousin.  However, it seems I can\'t forget some of the agreements you broke in the past," Duke Kleo commented very intelligently.  "I don\'t want you to use her to attack me in the future.  Therefore I should kill her so that there is no significant threat in the future."

***