# 70
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'Impossible.'
How carefully was he watching her?
But, if Ariana was really so determined, was it impossible?
Were there moments he missed where she could secretly send messages?
That period when she was staying away from him, calling him “Duke,” and no longer ing him… Could that be the period when she secretly communicated with her original husband?
'I will see it with my own eyes.'
So, he came back like a madman, only thinking about where Ariana would be. The closer he got to her room, the sound of his blood pulsing in his ears like the drums of hell.
Even if that letter was hers, it didn't matter.
He won't ask anything, and will keep it a secret forever.
'As if nothing had happened.'
If only she was waiting for him here.
Open the door without knocking.
For a moment, the air around him froze as if it had become ice. The air vent cover next to the bed was on the floor, and the dress that the duke's lady should have been wearing was thrown haphazardly.
The scene was clear evidence of her escape.
Kenneth walked silently towards something that caught his eye on the dressing table.
It was a palm-sized box partially opened. The earrings inside were shining a dull, sad pink.
[Everything Kenneth gives me I will cherish]
He gripped the earrings so hard that the needle pierced his palm and blood dripped out.
“…send notices to all nearby stations and ports.”
Every word that woman spoke was a lie.
He was deceived once, and he is being deceived again.
* * *
“Ha, ha…!”
Is it safe for her to run like this in her current condition? She had no choice, but worry and fear for Baby made her mind completely blank.
Ariana was panting, holding her bag tightly to her stomach. The roads lit by gas lamps were full of drunks and chaos.
As she ran, she heard jeers and whistles, but her greatest fear made her ignore them.
“E, brother, brother...”
When I reached the end of the road, I smelled the deep water of the dock.
Finally, I arrived at Port Elisia, the closest to the hotel.
The registration closing time for the last ship was about to expire.
Ariana rushed to the lit-up box office. There was a middle-aged employee who seemed to have no enthusiasm for his work.
“P-please!”
Trembling, Ariana took the money and temporary ID document out of her bag.
“Third class ticket, one please.”
“Haa… show me the ID document first.”
The man looked at the document hurriedly, and glanced sideways at Ariana with misty eyes.
“Anne Clark...”
Ariana silently bit her lips. There was no room to bite anymore, but she had no choice.
'Please, please, let me pass.'
She didn't intentionally wipe the dust and soot off her face. She wanted to look like a normal person who had escaped a harsh life.
After a moment that seemed like an eternity, the pale clerk nodded nonchalantly and handed her the ticket.
“Ride.”
They were the most brilliant words in the world.
Who would have thought that she would be so grateful to someone who lacked enthusiasm for her work?
‘I succeeded.’
She passed, and now if she entered the ship, they wouldn't be able to find her.
Ariana grabbed her ticket and identification document tightly and rushed toward the ship's entrance.
She was most likely the last passenger, and the ship would soon sail.
Honestly, after purchasing the ticket, it was almost over. Ariana was drenched in a cold sweat as she presented the ticket to the last attendant at the boarding entrance.
“Yes, ride...”
The attendant was about to nod upon seeing the third class ticket. But he did not let her pass, but looked alternately between the ticket and Ariana's face.
'What's the matter?'
Ariana quickly lowered her head, but when the attendant retracted the ticket, her heart sank.
“Wait here a minute.”
“What? Why, is there something wrong with my ticket?”
“Ah, nothing major. The stamp on the ticket is incomplete. This is against procedures.”
“But can’t you let me pass?”
"Sorry, just wait a minute. I'll be back after processing it."
While Ariana nodded reluctantly, the host quickly walked away.
She couldn't object to the proceedings, and she didn't know what was wrong anyway. But when the gas lamps started going off one by one, I felt afraid.
'Is there something wrong?
Why didn't he come back after it got so dark?
Even the person at the box office has been there so far, why…?
Ariana froze when she thought there was a phone at the box office.
She passed the box office clerk, but the last attendant probably recognized her.
'Am I trying to push myf in?'
It was too late to find an inn, and waiting for dawn to try another port seemed dangerous.
But before Ariana could try to get over the fence blocking the entrance to the ship, she heard the eerie sound of car engines.
Several cars were approaching noisily, white lights quickly approaching them.
Ariana instinctively tried to dodge the lights and hide, but she fell to the ground.
"Yes!"
Her bag rolled to the side, her knees and palms hurt from the fall.
But Ariana, unable to feel the pain, cowered in fear and leaned back with her hands.
Her hands were touching the ground, but she suddenly felt like they were made of lead, cold and numb.
How, so fast?
Ariana raised her head with difficulty, pale, and her neck almost broke.
Kenneth was looking at her from above.
With the same expression he had when she ed him for her life.
* * *
Ariana's memories of what happened next were hazy, as if they were covered in dust.
She didn't expect to fail so miserably when she was about to go up.
Lifting her up, they half into the car...and they returned to the darkly lit hotel. How long has it been since she escaped? Only a few hours?
She didn't have the energy to worry about other people's eyes. She was led gently by servants and washed, but treated like a criminal.
The hotel uniform she had carefully prepared was confiscated, and she was forced to wear the robe she had been wearing here. The attempt to escape itf felt like it was being cut off from her.
But the thought of confronting Kenneth after getting out of the bathroom made her heart clench with fear.
'Be careful.'
Ariana bit her swollen lips hard, already in a miserable state.
Kenneth was sitting in an armchair, looking expressionlessly at a piece of paper the size of half a palm. After taking off his jacket, he looked like he had just finished a meeting and was taking a break.
At least, until the lamp shined on his side face, where his hair was down.
“…Anne Clark?”
Kenneth laughed sarcastically at the sight of the name on the temporary identity document.
“You chose a good boring name.”
Czech-! Cheek-!
…The sound of tearing paper made Ariana’s face even paler.
“Ah…”
She felt dizzy as she saw her hope being torn apart before her eyes.
At her feet, where the leaf fell like snow, the shadow of the man appeared.
“Did you prepare all this to leave me?”
“Answer me, Ariana.”
In contrast to his mockery of the nickname, his emotionless tone made her shiver. But since everything has been revealed, what's the point of denial?
"…Yes."
Now, he would ask her why she did something so bold without fear.
She had something to say...she had.
She couldn't bear to stay by his side anymore. In the first year of their marriage, and even now, her life with him has been full of wounds.
Except for the kid's story, it wasn't a complete lie.
But before she could answer, a paper fell gently at her feet.
“Pick it up.”
"What? What is this...?"
Ariana looked at him in confusion, but his blank blue eyes did not reveal any intent.
Reluctantly, she knelt down and picked up the paper. But as soon as she lifted it, her face froze at the sight of handwriting that eerily resembled her own.
Her eyes couldn't understand the content, and she didn't blink.
"What is this…?"
Explicit longing and obscene love for a man.
Intimate stories about their moments in bed.
When she realized that the target was the hateful prince, Ariana shuddered as she held the disgusting paper.
"What does this mean? Why, who wrote this-?"
“Why are you feigning ignorance?”
Kenneth looked at the collapsed woman indifferently.
In contrast to his face as frozen as a piece of wood, jealousy and anger were flowing through his head, as if his blood vess would burst.
“It is a message in which you miss your original husband.”
“Ah...”
“Did you run away today to meet him?”