Chapter 161: Boundaries Tested
"You have returned?" Duke Alexavier inquired, his gaze fixed on the Duchess as she entered the room.
"You? Why are you here? I specifically declined your request to enter," the Duchess retorted, her anger simmering beneath the surface.
"And I declared that no matter how vehemently you refuse, your heart yearns for my presence. So here I am, fulfilling your unspoken wish," the Duke replied, a playful glint in his eyes.
"This is not my wish, nor will it ever be," the Duchess spat, her voice laced with venom.
"Why this anger, wife? Are you perhaps afraid that a moment of gentleness might spark love for me?" Duke teased,leaning closer.
"Gentle with you? Don’t jest, Duke! Such a thing is inconceivable!" she scoffed.
"Because I haven’t forgotten the year I spent locked away, starving and parched, while my husband lavished attention on the princess," she hissed, her eyes flashing with bitterness.
"Do you have any clue how desperately I searched for you?" he countered, his voice thick with anguish.
He closed the distance between them, his fingers digging into her shoulder.
"You parrot the same accusations, and I endure them because I despise causing you pain. But have you ever considered my perspective? Mine was overshadowed by yours, silenced and unseen." He spoke with an urgency that reverberated through the room.
"The day your disappearance was announced, I raged against the Emperor. I defied him, do you even comprehend that?"
"I sent knights scouring the forests, clinging to the hope of finding you alive."