ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 124: Illegitimate child

Ren lifted an eyebrow slightly. Kael remained silent.

"I do not believe someone like her," Demian continued, "would lower herself without a reason."

He straightened, walked around the desk, and stopped directly in front of Ren. "Ren."

Ren inclined his head. "Yes, Your Grace."

"Find out," Demian ordered without preamble. "What made Bianca Austin willing to serve Valerie. I want everything debts, threats, schemes, or anyone pulling strings behind her. No detail is too small."

The corner of Ren’s mouth curved faintly not a smile, but the expression of someone accepting a challenge. "Understood. I’ll begin tonight."

Demian then turned to Kael.

"Kael."

"Your command," Kael replied shortly.

"You will watch her," Demian said. "Every step she takes while she remains in this castle. Who she speaks to, where she goes, what she does report everything to me."

Kael nodded without hesitation. "Should she be aware she’s being watched?"

"No," Demian answered sharply. "She must feel safe. Too safe."

Silence fell again, heavier than before.

Ren glanced at Demian briefly, then asked carefully, "Does Your Grace suspect something specific?"

Demian did not answer at once. His gaze shifted to the tall window beside the room, toward the castle gardens swallowed by night. In his mind surfaced Valerie’s face the way she hesitated, the way she voiced her unease, the way her instincts worked sharper than she realized.

"I dislike coincidences," Demian said at last. "And I dislike even more when someone approaches what is mine with reasons that are too neatly arranged."

The word mine slipped out unforced, unaccented yet it was enough for both Ren and Kael to understand.

Ren bowed his head again. "I will ensure Your Grace has answers."

Kael followed, "And I will ensure Lady Valerie is not disturbed."

Demian nodded once. "That is what matters."

He turned back to his desk, as if the conversation were already finished. "Go."

The two knights turned and left the study without a sound, leaving Demian alone with his thoughts.

The fire resumed its quiet crackling, the only sound in the room.

Demian stared down at the map spread across his desk, yet his mind was not on territory or war strategy. Something was moving within the shadows of his castle something brushing too close to Valerie, and that alone was enough to make him alert.

And whoever intended to disrupt that fragile calm, sooner or later, he would find them.

Demian entered without deliberate sound, as was his habit when his thoughts were heavy. The door closed softly behind him, and the warm scent of candle wax mixed with old books immediately greeted his senses. Valerie was there reclining against the headboard, her hair loose around her shoulders, a thin house gown draping gently over her frame. An open book rested in her hands, and for a moment, she seemed distant... as though she were somewhere else entirely, in a world no one could touch.

Demian stopped a few steps from the bed. The sight of her so absorbed made him hesitate to speak. But his curiosity won.

"You like books like that?"

His voice broke the silence.

Valerie startled. Her fingers snapped the book shut instinctively, the movement too quick to look natural. In a single breath, the book vanished beneath her pillow. Her eyes widened briefly before she lowered her gaze, like a child caught hiding something forbidden.

Demian studied her reaction carefully. His brow furrowed slightly not in anger, but in confusion. He stepped closer.

"Why are you so startled?" he asked softly, his voice low and cautious.

Valerie pulled the blanket tighter around herself and let out a small sigh. "Well... it’s just," she said, searching for words, "you weren’t supposed to see that."

That tone only made Demian more curious. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his weight causing the mattress to dip slightly.

"And why not?" he said lightly. "It’s just a novel, isn’t it?"

Without waiting for permission, his hand slipped beneath the pillow and pulled the book free. Valerie turned quickly too late to stop him.

"Demian—"

Too late.

He glanced at the title, then read it aloud in a flat but unmistakable voice.

"The Servant’s Secret Chamber."

Silence fell between them.

Valerie turned her face away. Heat rushed to her cheeks and ears, embarrassment tangling with irritation. She hated how easily Demian could read her reactions as if there were no walls tall enough to hide the small things she wanted to keep to herself.

Demian didn’t laugh. He didn’t mock her. Instead, he studied the cover a moment longer, then looked back at her.

"The title..." he paused, choosing his words, "isn’t what noblewomen usually read."

Valerie snapped her gaze back to him. With a sharp motion, she snatched the book from his hand and hugged it to her chest.

"You don’t need to know," she said, her voice sharper than she intended.

Demian raised his hands slightly in surrender. But his eyes never left her.

"I just wanted to know what kind of stories you like," he said honestly. "I rarely see you read with that expression."

Valerie fell silent. She swallowed, her gaze dropping. Something hovered on the edge of her lips how those books gave her space to breathe, how tired she was of always being seen as the Duke’s woman. But the words felt too fragile to release.

So she chose the safer path.

"You should go bathe," she said at last, lifting her face with a firmness that was clearly forced. "I don’t want to sleep beside you if you haven’t bathed."

Demian studied her for a few seconds longer, as if understanding that this wasn’t about bathing at all but about a boundary. Something she was guarding.

"Alright," he said simply.

He stood, adjusted his cuffs, and walked toward the bathing chamber. When the door closed, the sound of running water soon followed steady, soothing.

Valerie let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She looked down at the book in her hands, then reopened the page she’d been reading yet the words refused to settle. Her thoughts drifted back to Demian’s gaze moments ago: not demanding, not judgmental, merely... curious.

And somehow, that was what made her heart beat faster.

Behind the bathing chamber door, Demian paused, letting the water run over his hands. The book’s title surfaced again in his mind. He realized something simple, yet important Valerie kept a small world of her own. A world he didn’t yet understand.

And for the first time, he wanted to understand it not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

Demian had just stepped out of the bathing chamber when Valerie’s voice stopped him, soft, yet strong enough to make the entire room feel frozen in place.

"Demian... what will be this child’s status after they are born?"