Duke, Can I Bite You?

The meal that Lauren prepared was excellent for a patient.

She gave her a porridge that seems to be easily digested and an egg dish that melts in her mouth with just one bite.

‘But these are foods that don’t satisfy my hunger.’

It tasted bland.

She hadn’t eaten meat for several days.

Foxes were omnivores, unable to survive on grass alone.

‘Yes! Let’s eat that.’

Mio activated her hunting instinct, and her heart began to pound.

‘Wait!’

With both of her skinny hands, she quickly rolled the wheel.

The wheels on the wheelchair moved smoothly even when she only touched them. But both of her eyes were fixed on the ducks only.

‘Huh? Is it going downhill?’

Slowly, her wheelchair started to speed up and rolled too fast.

‘What? I can’t stop!’

At this rate, she would have been thrown into the lake.

“Ah…!”

Before she sank, she quickly jumped out of her wheelchair and rolled to the side. The wheelchair sped into the lake and fell into the water. Surprised by the impact, the duck flew straight into the sky.

Mio whimpered as she watched the scene.

“… Don’t go.”

Her arms and legs were in pain from the shock of the fall, but she stood up.

‘I must stand up.’

It had been a long time since she had walked on two legs, so her body was shaking. Mio pushed herself to the shore of the lake, even though it hurts.

‘If it’s not a duck, I’ll eat fish.’

Mio’s eyes, completely engulfed by her instincts, were touching the fins of a carp swimming freely in the water.

‘I’m in a bad state right now, but……’

If she hits one with her sharp claw, she can easily catch a fish.

“Fishies… Please blame the duck who ran away.”

When she reached the water’s edge with an unstable gait, she tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

It happened so quickly, there was nothing she could do about it.

Splash!

She crashed into the lake.

Mio, whose face was hit in the shallow lake, was momentarily stunned in shock.

“… Huh.”

A few seconds later, a groan escaped her mouth. She felt like her body was paralized as it drowned in the ice-cold lake water.

“Anybody-”

As she tried to speak, a lot of water got into her mouth. She had to stand up quickly with both arms on the ground, but there was no strength in her body.

‘How could it be like this?’

There were traps set up all over the place before she could even get close to Geoffrey.

‘But I wanted to stay in bed more…….’

As soon as she came out of her stupor, she struggled.

Mio couldn’t even cry at this ridiculous ending.

Her mind was becoming increasingly fuzzy and she would die soon.

Thump, thump.

Then she could hear someone’s footsteps approaching her.

‘Is it the angel of death?’

The person leaned towards her and raised Mio.

“……”

Mio still couldn’t comprehend her situation. Water dripped down from her body. But it seemed like she wasn’t dead.

“……Are you mad?”

Someone criticized her.

There was a lot of water in her nose and ears so she couldn’t think clearly. She frowned as she sniffed the familiar scent.

‘There’s no way he’s that person.’

It was worse than dying to be helped by Geoffrey.

As Mio struggled, the strong hand that gripped her waist grew stronger.

“You wanted to kill yourself because I won’t accept you? Are you mad?

‘…Suicide? Who’s going to die?’

Mio barely regained consciousness and narrowed her eyes.

She didn’t quite understand the situation now.

“Stay here for a moment.”

The man who left Mio on the ground walked back into the lake.

Only his back faced Mio so she couldn’t see properly.

Mio was trying to get the water out of her ear with one hand, but water spilled out of her nose and mouth instead.

“Cough, cough!”

“You can’t do it like that.”

The man who returned to her side put a jacket on Mio’s shoulder.

When she lifted her head, she was able to look directly at the man’s face.

It was truly Geoffrey who currently looked pitiful with his wet bangs.

“……Duke.”

“What?”

“……”

As Mio bowed her head and touched the wet hem of her robe, Geoffrey carried her again.

“I- I am fine.”

Mio wanted to expose her fangs and fight him immediately.

“If you want, I can throw you out of here right now.”

Geoffrey replied coldly.

‘I know that even if you don’t say that. But he’s surprisingly still humane.’

There was a slight feeling of gratitude, but it quickly faded away.

‘If that’s the case, then why did you save me!’

As Mio continued to look uncomfortable, he added.

“Even if you don’t like it now, be patient.”

He sat Mio on the wheelchair and wrapped her body in a jacket.

He treated her roughly although his actions were kind.

Geoffrey had no intention of letting go of this suspicious woman until she revealed her identity. But, he couldn’t ignore Lauren’s request he met in the building earlier.

“Duke, I need to do something and can’t really leave. May I ask you to accompany Mio at the lake?”

“If that’s the case, send Samuel or someone else for her.”

Geoffrey has not yet gathered enough evidence to reveal the woman’s identity and motives. So he had no intention of doing anything to help.

‘But Lauren’s words really bothered him.’

Geoffrey, who had a hard time refusing Lauren’s request, frowned.

His father and family abandoned him when his mother was executed.

“No matter what anyone says, you’re the Duke of Caspian.”

Lauren, Samuel and the butler, Alfred were the only ones who believed in Geoffrey despite the many rumors.

“Duke, can you do it?”

“I’m just going to pick her up.”

So he was on the way to pick up this suspicious woman at the lake.

However, he was also unwilling to do so, so his steps were unusually slow.

‘She’s there.’

As he was walking, he saw the woman leaning on her back under a large apple tree. Geoffrey’s eyes narrowed as he had not yet figured out whether she was an enemy or not.

‘Is she the type that loves nature very much?’

She seemed to concentrate quite a bit on the sky, lake, and wind, which did not interest him at all.

The wind blew and her silver hair fluttered, Geoffrey watched her silently.

‘What is she doing?’

The woman, who seemed to have decided on something, started to push the wheelchair and went into the lake.

‘Is she going to die now?’

At first she moved at a normal pace, but then it started to speed up.

The woman fell from the wheelchair and had her nose inside the shallow water, but she did not move.

Mio was now buried in a robe full of Geoffrey’s scent.

She couldn’t stand it, but she couldn’t do anything as he pushed her wheelchair.

‘Who’s going to die!’

She just wanted duck and fish…

She silently mumbled the secrets she could not reveal to anyone.

She felt uncomfortable sitting as she kept hearing Geoffrey’s voice, who constantly got angry.

“How could you die for love? I despise those who do not value life.”

Mio was stunned by his conclusion and could not find anything to say back.

‘He despises me…?’

Who else has a stronger will to live than her?

She was repeatedly thrown into this kind of absurd situation, but she never gave up.

Sniffle.

She wore a jacket, but her teeth trembled because of her wet clothes.

‘It’s not because it’s cold. It’s because I’m angry.’

She was trembling, and Lauren ran from afar.

“Oh my God! I asked you to just bring her along, but why is the lady so wet? Look at her blue lips.”

When Lauren glared at Geoffrey, he coughed.

“Ask her. Because I don’t know anything……”

Geoffrey handed the wheelchair to Lauren and left. Mio didn’t realize that his shirt and pants were soaking wet.

“Let’s go in and take a bath. How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“It’s not a big deal, I’m fine.”

It wasn’t really a big deal for a fox to dip in the lake. But Lauren was even more angry at Mio’s calm words.

“How could it be like that! Our Duke was a very kind person when he was young, but how did he become so cruel?”

Lauren, who was pushing the wheelchair, almost cried.

‘There was a time when that beast was also kind.’

Mio quietly spoke to herself about the new knowledge.

* * *

In the bathroom attached to the bedroom, Lauren prepared a lot of warm water and made Mio wash herself.

“I’m really fine.”

Mio grabbed her wet dress with both hands and said that. She was too tired and was pale.

She had never taken her clothes off in front of anyone, so taking a bath like this was burdensome.

But it didn’t work for Lauren at all.

“Take it off immediately. You might get sick.”

With Lauren’s help, she sat down as she took off her wet dress.

“You’re already not feeling well, how could you be so careless?”

“……That was a mistake.”

Her clothes were now at Mio’s feet.

“You’re so careless…”

Lauren scooped the water and poured it on Mio’s back.

“Rinse your body lightly and then dip into the bathtub with flower petals over there. You can do it right?”

“…Yes.”

Mio’s head was filled with with Geoffrey’s words as she glanced at the steaming bathtub.

‘He criticized me for trying to die……’

How could he say that when he killed her several times?