The Duke's Passion

Chapter 724  Not a scratch

<nullb>Happening at the same time...

Inside a small house situated on the outskirts of the capital, Fabian was standing by the open wooden door. His eyes were on the lady sitting on the chair near the window. At one glance, it only appeared it was a scene with a fallen lady from a noble house and his butler coming back empty-handed. But that was definitely not the case.

Fabian, like usual, was smiling until his eyes were squinting. "What did you say?" he asked as if he didn't hear her words just now.

"I don't want to go back," Florence repeated, setting her pair of midnight blue eyes that complimented her tan skin perfectly, on him. "You abducted me yesterday, so you have to take responsibility."

"..." Fabian cocked his head to the side, trying to understand the logic behind her remarks. "His Highness, your brother, already gave a handsome reward."

"I don't care. I'm not moving from here or returning to that damn place!" she adamantly retorted, holding the armrest tightly, and only loosening her grip when it showed cracks.

Yesterday, Florence fled the royal palace to live a vagabond life. But alas, while walking through the dark street of the capital, this man appeared out of nowhere. He simply told her he didn't want to fight, but his intention was to abduct her for fun before knocking her unconscious.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself in this small, old house somewhere on the outskirts of the capital. She wasn't bound or anything of the sort, quite strange for being abducted. However, she didn't leave until he returned, telling her she was free to go.

Which now led to this dilemma.

Florence originally fled her home, and there was no way she would come back. Unless, of course, Fabian forced her and knock her unconscious.

"My... what a dilemma," Fabian crooned, sensing the determination from the lady. "What shall we do then?"

"Huh?" her brows rose at his question.

"If you do not want to return home, what should we do?" he repeated, strutting his way toward her and stopping three feet from her. He tapped his chin with his index lightly before an idea cross his mind. "How about this, your Highness? I'll return you to your brother, then I'll help you flee again?"

"What?" her brows knitted together, sizing him up cautiously.

"Your brother nearly beheaded me for abducting you to get his attention. And he will make it hard for my master if I don't return you in one piece," he explained in the same light tone. "Unless you return, otherwise it'll be troublesome."

Florence remained silent as she swallowed down a mouthful of saliva. She studied him for a moment before looking out the window.

"No," she replied adamantly, not allowing his words to sway her. "The only way you can take me back there is by force. I'm not returning with my own two feet."

She flinched when a hand carefully landed on the armrest, making her gaze up at him. Her eyes went huge as soon as she met a pair of dark eyes looking back at her, and an unsmiling man. Florence held her breath for a second, sizing up the face that was almost a palm length away from hers.

She only met him twice; last night when he abducted her, and now that he had arrived. However, never once had she seen his eyes or there was a moment he wasn't smiling. Therefore, unlike this harmless aura he exuded previously, his unsmiling face paired with his naturally sharp, narrow eyes brought this sense of dread seeping into every fiber of her body.

<nullb>'Run!' was what her brain screamed as soon as she recognized the threat, but her feet were still on the floor. All she could do was stare at him with her lips falling ajar. Despite the dangers embracing her like a black shroud, Florence couldn't deny the fact this man had this dangerous appeal that was... magnetizing.

<nulli>'No, Florence. Don't get distracted,' She told herself, clutching the armrest once again until her grip turned white. How could this man give off such a threatening aura — to a pureblood such as herself — when he was, in fact, a human?

"Please, Your Highness." His voice hit another level of low; it was almost chilly, making the hair behind her neck raise. "Don't make it hard for me."

Her lips quivered, but her voice was stuck in her throat. Fabian let out a shallow breath while his eyes studied the stubbornness in her eyes. His lips curled up into a smile.

"You look as beautiful as you are ten years later, Your Highness," he crooned, but not surprised since she was a vampire and retaining her youthful, beautiful visage was no shock. Although what he meant was the grace she naturally carried, which only meant she was healthy enough to be operated on.

"Now that I think about it, the first time we kissed was quite nice, right?" his smile stretched until it once again reached his eyes. "Shall we do it again?"

"What --" Her pupils dilated when he leaned closer and before she knew it, his lips had already claimed hers. She froze when he slipped his tongue inside, making her breath hitch, and her brain malfunction. Meanwhile, he glanced at her and smirked, pulling his head away with a smile.

Florence blinked once, staring at him and noticing the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. However, before she could wonder why he was bleeding, her vision zoomed in and out, and then darkness.

Fabian instantly caught her forehead from falling, sighing as he looked at her. There were many ways to force her to come, but knowing Heliot, he would demand to return her unscathed. Therefore, he should return her without a single scratch.

But she made it hard for him, so he didn't have a choice but to poison her. He had been poisoning Tilly and Samael and himself since regaining his memories. Although those two could go by on their day without a problem, the poison he had been concocting as a hobby was strong enough to kill a lower vampire and paralyze a weak pureblood like her. In other words, Fabian's blood was carrying poison, and biting his tongue to let her have a taste was the most peaceful solution he came up with.

"He will demand not a scratch," he muttered, carrying her in his arms carefully. When Fabian straightened his back, his smile stretched broader and brighter. "But he won't say poisoned, right? Your Highness?"

He gazed down at her unconscious face before he sauntered off without making the slightest sound.