“Mistaken?” the Duke stood up, furrowing his brow. “Are you equating my love to a mistake?”
“No, I am reminding you why you entered into this marriage. It was only out of a sense of duty, and you should recall that. What you feel now is merely an illusion. You think that love has developed in your heart because we share the title of husband and wife when in reality this is not the case.”
Sophia was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince him. At this point, however, she was unsure of how much conviction her voice even held.
“I know how I feel,” Duncan replied, his voice growing irked for the first time in this interaction. “You do not need to explain away how I feel. I would not tell you unless I knew for sure what it was that I was feeling.”
Sophia shook her head.
“No, you are wrong.”
“You are so stubborn,” the Duke complained. Every time she took a step back to get away from him, he took a step forward so that the distance between them did not grow to be so great. “Besides, what you are doing right now is merely deflecting. Ihave not asked you to explain how I feel. I am asking you what you feel… about me.”
Sophia gulped. It would be difficult to lie to him when he was looking at her so intensely like that.
She took another step back, but her back hit the wall. She was cornered now, and Duncan was approaching her.
“What is it, Madam?” he asked, slowly touching the side of her face with the back of his hand. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
She shook her head.
“Do you feel the same?”
Sophia was silent. He was close enough that he would be able to call her out on her bluff if she even tried to lie about her feelings. Everything inside of her was responding to him now: her chest was heaving, and her cheeks were flushing red. Butterflies had erupted inside of her stomach as soon as he had reached out and touched her.
She wassmitten andlying about it felt impossible when it was so obvious in her body language.
“Madam, how little of an idea you have of what you do to me.” The Duke’s voice was strained. “I want nothing more than to kiss you at this moment.”
Sophia did not dare to reply, even though she wanted the same. She hoped that he would take the initiative and close the distance between them himself.
How she longed for him to read her mind.
“But I shall refrain myself.” The Duke took a step back. “I do not wish to do anything that you do not want as well.”
“Your Grace, I…” Sophia struggled to find the right words. She did not want to appear too forward, yet at the same time, she did not want him to move away from her. It was as though she had found herself in the midst of a conflicting situation.
A lady never makes the first move.That was what was fed to her all her life. How was she to throw away years of what she had learned, even though at this moment she felt tempted to?
“Let me make this easier for you,” the Duke’s voice softened. Had he picked up on the internal struggle she was going through?
“How?”
“I will count to five.” He flashed her a smile. “During that time, you tell me if you do not reciprocate your feelings for me. If that is the case, then I shall back away and never touch you again. But if you do not say anything by the time I am finished counting, I will have my answer.”
Sophia gulped loudly, her heart thumping loudly in her chest and her hands clammy with the nervousness she felt.
“One…”
Sophia bit down on her lip and opened her mouth to speak.
Do the right thing, Sophia. Tell him you do not return his feelings. Save him from a life of ruin from your curse.
“Two…”
Sophia’s mind said one thing, but her heart another. Even as she tried to force herself to tell him a lie, her mouth did not cooperate. It was as though the words had died inside her throat, refusing to come out.
“Three… time’s ticking, Madam…”
