My Husband Never Dies - Chapter 31
No sooner had her shout ended that the man’s body crumpled to the floor. Her heart pounded so violently it felt like it might burst. Anxious tremors spread through her fingers, her toes, every part of her body.
She hadn’t dared to hope the Duke would die so easily. He was, after all, a man who had survived even the deadliest of poisons.
But maybe, just maybe, she could buy herself a little time to escape. On the night they consummated the marriage, the man had stopped breathing and lost consciousness. Until he revived again, no matter what that thing was, it wouldn’t be able to stop her.
Without hesitation, Evelyn bolted from the banquet hall. Kicking aside the tangled hem of her dress like it was a swamp intent on trapping her, she raced past the long table.
The royals and attendants who had once filled the vast room were gone. Not a trace of them remained. God, this is horrific, Evelyn muttered under her breath. Monster or not, whatever he was, she just needed to get away from him.
Trusting her memory and instinct, Evelyn slammed open the banquet hall doors. Gold and emerald — carved with symbols of the royal house — the heavy doors parted, welcoming her flight.
“Hah… haah…”
Her breath burned at the top of her throat. Gasping for air, Evelyn sprinted down the deserted corridor. There was no time to feel the wrongness of the empty space. She had to run. Just run and get out of here…
Mist began to seep out from the still-open doors. Faint and formless, it slithered into the hallway, like it was chasing her. Glancing over her shoulder, Evelyn hissed a string of vicious curses between clenched teeth.
“This fxcking fog! Get lost! I said, fxck off!”
But she couldn’t stop. No matter what this was, she wasn’t about to throw away the sliver of a chance she had. The mist caught up before she realized it, curling around her, rising above her head.
“That’s going to be difficult.”
A chilling voice spoke, unhurried and calm.
Evelyn froze.
She could see the door to the garden just ahead, so close, but her legs wouldn’t move. No… they didn’t need to move. The impulse that had driven her had already failed.
“Eve.”
The voice came, soft and familiar.
The man, stained head to toe in bright red blood, called to her as if nothing had happened. Holding up the silver knife she had thrown in the banquet hall, the duke gave a quiet, breathy laugh.
“You still don’t understand?”
As the mist curled around the blade, the blood vanished in an instant. The half-severed neck reconnected along a fine red line, and the bloodstains on his clothes disappeared like they’d never existed.
Evelyn’s hand trembled violently.
This was the first time she had ever been so thoroughly outmatched. She had knocked down men twice her size and fighters known across the kingdom. But now, faced with this, she knew her strength meant nothing.
Clink!
The silver knife hit the floor with a soft rattle.
And then, the world in front of Evelyn’s eyes changed in an instant.
It was no longer the mist-filled corridor. Evelyn found herself in a bedroom she had never seen before — not the annex where Princess Rowena once stayed, nor the wretched master bedroom of Brumfield.
She lay on a modest bed, staring blankly up at the Duke positioned over her.
“He told us to go to Dalebury sometime, so we might as well go.”
The sudden mention of that name made Evelyn’s brow furrow.
“What do you think, Eve?”
Calix leaned down and brushed aside her golden hair, whispering softly into her ear.
“About the villa your mother used to stay in?”
Her lips, dry and pale from fear and shock, refused to part. She could only gasp shallow breaths. And then he kissed her.
His warm breath merged with hers, and naturally, insistently, his tongue slipped into her mouth. Tsuup. The wet sound of lips and tongue breaking the stillness as he swept her mouth with careful intent, as if trying to savor every bit of her.
Evelyn, who had stayed still and accepted the kiss, suddenly bared her teeth and bit down on his lower lip.
“—Hhh…”
The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth as well. Calix pulled away and touched his lower lip with the back of his hand, then smiled.
Bright red blood seeped from the open wound, but he didn’t even bat an eye.
