His heart was gnawed by a strange beast when he heard it. He remembered the girl, she was the daughter of their vassal family, the daughter of the viscount who had clearly shown her interest in him.

But he had ignored her. He did not want to have any affection with any of them. But he did not clear the misunderstanding with her. He wanted her to feel the same pain she had given him and others.

But hearing her voice full of pain, why was he getting affected?

He stared at her fair face. She looked so beautiful that it felt ethereal. Should he go and tell her the truth?

For a second the idea looked quite appealing to him but he stopped.

It would be better that she would stay in illusion. That way she would not think about deceiving him again.

He wanted to forget what happened. He wanted to forgive her but that was not easy. She had twisted and hurt him enough that forgiving was not easy.

He gave one last look to her face before leaving from there silently.

Hannah who had noticed his presence at some point was holding her breath but when his eyes turned solemn and he left from there with a dark face, her eyes dimmed too.

Would she ever get the happiness or she did not deserve them in the first place?

"You are looking perfect now." she looked away and stared back at her face that was looking picture perfect now and tried to bring a smile on her face that only looked forced in the end.

Just as Ethan walked away, Amber, the girl he was thinking about standing in the hall. Her eyes were looking dim as she stared at the decoration around her.

He paused for a second before starting walking again when she turned hearing the sound of footsteps.

Her eyes widened with joy before turning normal again as she bowed her head,"My lord!" her voice was filled with pain as if she was suffering a lot.

With that delicate face of hers and that painful eyes, any men's heart would have melted and they would have felt bad for her but Ethan did not even notice it.

He nodded his head and was about to leave when she held his wrist.

"My lord i need to.." before she could complete her words, he looked at her with a bone chilling look.

His gaze was razor sharp and piercing that could burn the soul of anyone. He stared at her and then at her hands which were holding his wrist and his face turned darker.

She immediately let go of his hands as if her palm were burning,

"I wanted to talk to you about something in private. It is too urgent that I could not control myself, my lord. I apologize for my behavior." she said in a soft voice that accentuated the timid look on her face.

But he was not interested in her cunning tricks. Her family would be here any moment, he should concentrate on that.

"Ah! I apologize, my lady. But as you know the preparations were going on for my engagement. I have a lot of work to see and a lot of guests to welcome. How about we discuss the business matters later in working hours? Today is the time for merriment." he said with a forced smile on his face that looked so cold.

She bit her lips but she was not ready to let go. This was her last chance. It was now or never. She still remembered the words of the man she had met yesterday.

If she wanted to be the duchess..

"It is not about work, my lord. I apologize for being too hasty but I was just worried about you." she held her breath and then looked back at his face again."I want to tell you something about your fiance, my lord. That is why I wanted to talk to you in private. If not, others would know about it before you.`` The last line was a threat.

Even a fool could understand that. He stared at the girl with his eyes turning darker. He was not good at taking threats but the guests had already started to come and his family would be here any moment.

He did not want the day to be ruined at any cost. If he had to lock this woman in the room until the party was over, he was ready to do that too.

With that thought, he brought a smile back on his face.

"If that is the case, come with me. We can complete the discussion in my bedroom." the girl smiled and nodded her head.

The lust and greed on her face was so clear that even a man with less experience like Ethan could understand it very well and felt disgusted instantly.

…

"Who would escort you to the room, my lady?" asked a maid with a worried look as Hannah was waiting for sometime but no one came to update her about the conditions outside.

"That.. everyone must be busy, so we will leave together after a while when the party starts. Would that be alright with all of you?

Do you know what is happening outside? Where is Ethan?" she asked the one who just entered the room.

The maid trembled. She was already looking pale but the words of Hannah made her paler. She tried to steal her gaze away that brought the attention of everyone in the room.

Hannah stood up and walked slowly towards the maid.

"Did something happen?" she asked with a frown when the maid looked uneasy.

​ She held her dress tightly in her hands and bowed her head.

"When I was going to fetch the flowers for you.. I heard my lord ask a girl to follow her to his bedroom and they both went to the room of the lord and the door was locked behind them."