ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 208: People from the south

She stared at the flames. "...can that really happen?"

Lena frowned slightly.

"Strange how?"

Ethan didn’t interrupt. He simply sat quietly, listening to their conversation while watching the fire.

Valerie fell silent for a moment, as if searching for the right words.

Then she spoke in a quieter voice. "Like..."

She let out a small breath. "...as if someone who has been gone might come back into my life."

The night wind suddenly blew stronger, making the campfire flicker.

Lena looked at Valerie with a more serious expression now. "You’re thinking about someone."

Valerie didn’t answer.

That alone was answer enough.

Lena finally said,

"Sometimes feelings like that are just unfinished memories."

She added quietly,

"Not a sign."

Ethan finally spoke from beside them.

"Or maybe the opposite."

Both women turned to him.

Ethan shrugged.

"The world is strange." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

He looked up toward the sky filled with icy clouds.

"There are people we never expect to see again... and then suddenly they appear right in front of us."

Valerie lowered her gaze.

The firelight reflected softly on her face.

"If that really happened..." she said quietly,

"...I don’t know whether it would be a good thing or a bad one."

Silence settled over them again.

Inside the wagon, Deon shifted slightly in his sleep.

His small ears twitched beneath the blanket.

In the distance the northern wind swept across the frozen sea.

And very far from the island... a group of riders was moving relentlessly toward the north.

Led by a man with cold eyes who had no intention of stopping until he found someone who had disappeared from his life.

Someone named Valerie.

Without anyone near the campfire realizing it the strange feeling Valerie had tonight...

might not be just a premonition.

Because someone who had vanished from her life

was indeed on his way back to her.

Night grew deeper on that northern island.

The campfire in front of the caravan had begun to shrink, leaving only glowing red embers shimmering softly in the middle of the circle of wood that had nearly burned away.

The wind from the frozen sea drifted slowly across the land, carrying a cold that pierced straight to the bone.

Inside the caravan wagon that served as their resting place, Deon slept curled beneath a thick blanket.

His small black-furred body rose and fell gently with each quiet breath.

Outside, Valerie, Lena, and Ethan were still sitting near the fire.

The sky above them glowed with a pale silver hue, as if night in the north never truly became dark.

Snow stretched as far as the eye could see.

"This place..." Valerie said softly, her eyes gazing toward the endless white plain.

"...feels like a different world."

Ethan took a long breath.

The vapor of his breath immediately turned into a thin mist.

"That’s because it is," he said casually. "Some people in the south don’t even believe this island really exists."

Lena gave a faint smile.

"And those who have been here usually don’t want to come back."

Valerie laughed quietly, though the sound was quickly swallowed by the wind.

For a while, they simply sat in silence.

Listening to the occasional thump of snow falling from the wagon roof, the distant sound of the frozen sea, and the quiet crackling of the embers.

Valerie lowered her gaze slightly, looking at her own hands.

"Lena..."

Lena lifted her head.

"Yes?"

Valerie hesitated for a moment.

Then she asked softly,

"If someone feels like something strange is going to happen... can it really happen?"

Lena frowned slightly.

"Strange how?"

Ethan didn’t interrupt.

He simply watched Valerie from across the fire, noticing how her expression had grown more serious.

Valerie looked at the fading flames for a moment before speaking again.

"Like... a premonition."

She drew a slow breath.

"As if someone who has been gone... will come back into my life."

The wind suddenly blew stronger.

The embers flickered, making their shadows shift across the snow.

Lena looked at Valerie for a long moment.

"You’re thinking about someone."

Valerie didn’t answer.

But the silence itself was answer enough.

Lena finally said quietly,

"Sometimes feelings like that are just unfinished memories."

She gave a small shrug.

"Not a sign."

Ethan finally spoke from beside them.

"Or maybe the opposite."

Valerie and Lena turned toward him.

Ethan looked up at the pale northern sky.

"The world is strange."

He spoke calmly.

"There are people we think are truly gone... and then suddenly they’re standing in front of us again."

Valerie lowered her gaze.

The glow of the embers reflected in her eyes.

"If that really happened..." she murmured.

"...I don’t know whether I should feel happy or afraid."

Silence fell between them again.

Inside the wagon Deon shifted slightly in his sleep.

His small ears twitched.

His eyes slowly opened.

There was no loud sound that woke him.

No touch.

And yet something...

seemed to catch his attention.

The small baby lifted his head slightly.

His silvery eyes stared in one direction.

South.

His tiny body tensed for a moment, and he let out a soft sound that was almost impossible to hear.

As if an instinct within his Morvex blood had sensed something far away.

Someone.

Someone whose blood was the same as his.

Someone moving relentlessly toward the north.

Far away hundreds of kilometers from the island Demian suddenly pulled his horse to a halt in the middle of the night journey.

He lifted his head.

Vedseel, riding beside him, immediately noticed the change.

"What is it?"

Demian didn’t answer.

For a moment he felt something strange in his chest.

As if something were calling to him from far away.

Then the feeling vanished just as suddenly.

Demian narrowed his eyes toward the north.

"It’s nothing."

The journey toward the north continued with few words.

Cold wind battered the group ever since they had left the main road. The forest around them gradually thinned, replaced by vast snowfields stretching all the way to the horizon.

Their horses moved slowly across the frozen ground.

At the front of the group, Demian led the way without ever looking back.

The northern night sky looked pale. Moonlight hidden behind clouds made the world appear as though it were made of cold silver.

There was no sound except the steady steps of the horses and the howl of the wind.

Suddenly Demian pulled slightly on the reins.

His black horse stopped.

The soldiers behind him immediately slowed as well.

Vedseel, riding beside him, turned his head.

"What is it?"

But Demian didn’t answer right away.

His hand slowly rose to his chest.

Something felt strange.

It wasn’t pain.

Nor was it an injury.

But something inside his chest right where his heart beat suddenly throbbed more strongly than usual.

As if something were pulling him.

Or calling him.

Demian closed his eyes for a moment.

The cold wind brushed across his face.

In his mind, the image of someone appeared.

Long hair blown by the wind.

Eyes that had once always tried to avoid his gaze.

Valerie.

Vedseel watched the subtle change in Demian’s expression.

"You’re feeling something."

It wasn’t a question.

Demian opened his eyes again.

For several seconds he simply stared toward the north toward the frozen sea that still lay beyond their sight.

Then, in a very quiet voice, almost like a murmur to himself, he said,

"Does this mean..." The wind blew stronger, lifting the edge of his black coat.

Demian finished his sentence in a low tone.

"...we will meet sooner than expected, Valerie."