#1. The Woman He Must Find

Prologue

It felt like they were letting her go a little too easily.

Chloe Riden turned around with a light heart, finally escaping the duke’s mansion—only to freeze the moment she saw the man ahead of her.

Standing motionless right in the middle of the alley entrance, staring straight at her, was none other than Duke Hugh Gray Wolfaz, the very master of the estate she thought she had safely escaped from.

He stood there like a gatekeeper, as if daring anyone to pass him.

And Chloe knew it instantly.

He had been waiting for her.

Or more precisely—he had come to catch her.

“D-Duke….”

A weak sound, like a mosquito that hadn’t eaten in days, slipped out of her throat.

“Clain Riden.”

The duke called her name. Of course, it was the name of the man she was disguising herself as—“Clain.”

Even though it was just a name, it felt to Chloe as if he had said, Come here right now.

It felt like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.

Step by reluctant step, she walked toward him.

“Duke, what brings you here…?”

“I wonder. Why do you think I came?”

His voice cut off her words mid-sentence, icy and sharp.

The coldness made her lips feel stuck together, as if frozen, and she could barely speak.

I haven’t been discovered yet.

So why does it feel like I’ve already been caught?

“If you’re here because of the woman you’re looking for….”

“A woman? No. No, that’s not it.”

“….”

At her hesitant answer, the duke said “no” three times.

“I came to investigate a man, not a woman.”

“A man…?”

Her head started spinning.

Had she been found out?

She thought she would be safe once she got home—but it seemed she was already too late.

She should have run the moment she heard the duke say there was a woman he needed to find.

That day, a few days ago.

#1. The Woman He Must Find

“There is a woman I need to find.”

Thud.

At Duke Hugh Gray Wolfaz’s words, Chloe Riden felt as though her heart had actually dropped to the floor.

A woman.

The word woman had come out of the duke’s mouth. And not only that—he said he had to find her?

“Ahh….”

A sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Both the duke and Sir Joyce, who had been listening to his order, turned to look at her with furrowed brows.

“Cough! I’m sorry. It just… surprised me, hearing you say ‘woman’….”

Chloe tried to explain, clearing her throat, but her voice still trembled too much to finish properly.

Fortunately, the duke gave a slight nod, as if he understood.

As if even he knew how shocking it was for him to say the word “woman.”

If there was one word least likely to come out of Hugh Gray Wolfaz’s mouth, it was “woman.”

“What kind of woman is she?” Sir Joyce asked.

Chloe swallowed hard, trying not to show it, while watching the duke’s lips.

She had to stay calm.

It probably had nothing to do with her.

“She is a woman who stayed at an inn in Arne last night.”

Ah…

It felt like her throat was being strangled.

Please, let it not be that inn.

Without realizing it, Chloe had even clasped her hands together in prayer.

“The inn is called ‘Night of Dogs and Cats,’” the duke added, as if mocking her prayer.

Of course it was that name.

So strange that once you heard it, you could never forget it.

What kind of ridiculous name is that—Dogs and Cats?

Chloe had stayed there three times so far.

And in all three visits, she had never once seen a dog or a cat.

Honestly, she had no idea why the inn was named like that at all.

“She is a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes.”

Unlike Chloe, whose heart was now racing out of control, the duke continued calmly.

Behind thick, non-prescription glasses that covered half her face, Chloe’s blue eyes shook violently.

At least her long blonde hair was hidden under a short brown wig—she could be grateful for that.

“Her height is around here—about my shoulder….”

The duke suddenly stopped speaking.

Chloe, who had been keeping her head down, felt something hot brush against her left cheek and slowly lifted her head—only to freeze.

The duke was staring directly at her.

“D-Duke…?”

Her voice trembled.

“Clain… how tall are you?”

“Pardon?”

For a moment, she almost hiccupped.

Had he realized she was the woman from last night?

Cold sweat instantly ran down her back.

“She’s about your height. So how tall are you?”

Relief and fear collided inside her at once.

So he hadn’t figured it out yet—but he might at any moment.

“168 cm,” Chloe answered, biting her tongue.

“Why are you looking for that woman?” Sir Joyce asked.

Because I slept with her.

“She is the woman I slept with.”

Chloe’s internal scream and the duke’s answer came out at the same time.

Her face felt like it was about to burst into flames.

Sir Joyce—and of course the duke—still believed she was a man and had no idea the woman he had spent the night with was standing right in front of him.

“Oh! Good heavens!”

Sir Joyce suddenly gasped.

“What on earth happened?!”

He looked on the verge of tears, fists trembling.

Seeing him like that, Chloe felt as if she had somehow defiled the duke’s purity.

“How could this happen…!”

Sir Joyce actually began to cry.

Watching him fall apart only pushed Chloe’s already miserable mood even lower.

But his reaction was nothing compared to what the duke said next.

“Stop making a fuss, Joyce. What’s done is done. Perhaps this is my fate.”

Chloe felt like the ground beneath her feet was flipping upside down again and again.

Fate?

It had only been a mistake from one night.

And at least she knew who the other person was—the duke himself.

But the duke, standing right in front of the woman in question, still had no idea.

A mistake so complete that neither of them meant anything to the other.

Just a night driven by desire.

And yet—why!

Why was he suddenly deciding to find her, and even calling it fate?

“She… is a commoner?” Sir Joyce asked, eyes red with anger.

That anger was unmistakable.

But who exactly was it directed at?

And “commoner human”?

What, were commoners animals?

“How rude.”

“It is likely so,” the duke replied calmly, a hint of resignation in his voice.

Both he and Sir Joyce were nobles, blue-blooded aristocrats.

To them, the emotions of a lowly servant standing right beside them clearly meant nothing.

How lovely. I must have committed some terrible crime.

A mere commoner had the audacity to sleep with a duke.

Chloe lowered her head even further, hiding her irritation.

It wasn’t as if she had asked him to take responsibility anyway—so why did they act like the world was ending?

Even the commoner woman didn’t want this situation.

So stop looking for her!

Of course, she only muttered that inside her head.

“One more thing—there was a wound on her shoulder,” the duke added calmly, unaffected by Joyce’s distress.

“A circular wound, slightly crushed. It looked like it had been bitten by a beast. I didn’t see it directly, so I can’t be certain.”

Damn it.

“Not certain,” my foot!

It couldn’t have been more accurate.

That shoulder mark did look like a beast had bitten her.

“I understand,” Joyce said, barely holding back his anger.

The whole situation was absurd.

“We must find her as quickly as possible.”

“Yes. I will depart immediately.”

Watching Sir Joyce leave with determination, Chloe frowned without realizing it.

As soon as he left, the duke leaned his elbow on the desk and buried his head in his hands.

It looked like a headache.

“Duke, I’ll take my leave as well.”

After last night’s disaster—like a beast in heat—Chloe felt as if her whole body had been beaten black and blue.

She didn’t even have the strength to stand anymore.

“Mm….”

The duke gave a vague response without lifting his head, and Chloe turned to leave quickly, taking it as permission.

“Clain!”

His voice grabbed the back of her neck.

Damn it, what now?

“Yes?”

She answered politely despite her thoughts.

“By the way… what is that smell?”

“Pardon?”

“I feel like there’s been a smell since earlier.”

A smell?

“That smell… it seems to be coming from you.”

“There’s no way that could—”

“Come closer.”

“…I cannot.”

I don’t smell anything.

He usually hates people getting close—so why today of all days?

“I told you to come closer.”

She had no choice.

Step by reluctant step, she approached him.

“Closer.”

Another half step.

“Right in front of my face.”

I really don’t want to.