The Duke's Passion

Chapter 725 If only

After their brunch, Lilou helped Klaus get some rest and run him a bath. He was even more tamed than she thought as he was exhausted, stressed, and needed a well-deserved rest. So after running him a bath and offering Stefan's spare clothes for Klaus to wear, she was about to head to her room.

But upon reaching the mansion's entrance hall and catching Claude's figure exiting, she sprinted for no reason.

"Wait!" she called, stopping him by the door.

Keeping his hand on the door handle, Claude looked back silently. "What?" he asked.

"Uhm..." she cleared her throat, thinking of anything she could think to give a proper excuse for her action. She clutched her hand closer to her chest and smiled awkwardly.

"Are you leaving now?" she asked. "Your uncles might look for you, so... I mean, they know where to find you."

"I'll return even before they can think of me." Updated chapters at wuxiahere.com

"Ahh..." she rocked her head awkwardly, biting her tongue. She perked up when Claude tilted his head down slightly and seemed to resume in his tracks.

"I —" he stopped once again when she spoke, arching a brow and glancing over his shoulder. "I'll send you off."

"No need."

"I insist," Lilou stressed adamantly. "Let me."

Claude pressed his lips into a thin line, catching how her hand turned white while gripping her own wrist. Had he ever said no to her?

"If only I listened..." he lowered his eyes slightly. "... this wouldn't happen. Not to you, not to Law, not to Uncle Klaus, not to Penny, and not to everyone."

Tears shone in his eyes as he recalled Penelope, the leader of the Owl Guild in Monarey, where Claude became a part of it. During the arrest of the Nightwalkers There was a moment of silence after his last remarks. Lilou pursed her lips into a thin line, clutching her hand across her chest, and having this pain in her heart.

"Why...?" she whispered with a shaking voice. "Why did you do it?"

His face crumpled at her question, making him recall the trigger for his unleashing of power. "I had a friend... a dear friend. She had the same hazel hair, but she died."

Tears shone in his eyes as he recalled Penelope, the leader of the Owl Guild in Monarey, where Claude became a part of it. During the arrest of the Nightwalkers that had plagued Monarey, Claude was injected with a strange substance that made him hallucinate.

He thought it would wear off if he let it sit since he was a pureblooded vampire and such a drug would not affect him. However, he was wrong. The night Penelope told her to meet in the castle's garden, all he saw was her dead body lying on the grass. And when he turned her, Lilou's face overlapped with hers.

But Claude couldn't tell her all that. No matter how much he wanted to explain, his voice wouldn't come out. So, in the end, he simply turned on his heel and walked away without saying a single word.

"Same hazel hair..." she whispered, staring at his back without moving a muscle. She wanted to run and try to talk to him, but she felt it was better to let him alone for now.

In her eyes, Claude seemed like he was carrying the entire world on his shoulders. Thus, she wanted to be sensitive and approach him carefully. He was unlike everyone he came with. Even Klaus wasn't as serious or as dejected as him.

"Was it because of me?" she murmured, biting her inner lower lip at the thought. "Why am I hurting?"

Lilou wiped her eyes with her arm to stop the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes from falling. She idled in the same spot for minutes before turning on her heel and sauntering off in the opposite direction from where Claude left.

As she walked away, her soft eyes glinted with a little determination. The reversal of time wasn't favoring anyone... she believed. It was only bringing pain and confusion to everyone who was affected by it, and thus, her determination to resolve this matter increased.