ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 163: A truth that was missed

Valerie frowned, then offered a small smile deliberately casual. "To buy pastries, of course," she replied, glancing toward the shelves beside her. "What else do people come to a pastry shop for?"

Ethan didn’t smile.

If anything, his expression hardened.

"You shouldn’t be here," he said quietly, but firmly.

There was a pause.

Valerie stopped pretending. She studied him more closely the way his jaw tightened, the way his hands curled into fists behind the counter. She recognized that expression. She had seen it years ago, when Ethan knew something he was not supposed to say.

A sense of unease crept up her spine.

"Ethan," Valerie said slowly. "What is it you actually want to tell me?"

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he glanced toward the shop window.

Outside, Lira and Sera stood in an odd formation their backs turned to the shop, their heads slightly angled left and right, as if keeping watch. Far too alert for two attendants merely waiting for their lady to buy pastries.

Valerie followed Ethan’s gaze.

Her heartbeat quickened.

Something was wrong.

Ethan looked back at her, his eyes deeper now no anger, no mockery, but weight. As though he were deciding whether the words that came next would save Valerie... or destroy her.

"Valerie," he said softly, his voice dropping an octave. "Do you want to know the truth?"

The air inside the shop seemed to change.

Denser. Quieter.

Valerie swallowed. Her hand moved instinctively to her belly a small gesture that did not escape Ethan’s notice.

"What truth?" she asked at last.

Her voice was calm.

Far too calm for someone who, deep down, was already bracing herself to hear something she did not want to know.

Ethan let out a long breath, as though the sentence he was about to speak had been held down in his chest for far too long.

"No one is allowed to talk about it," he said at last. His voice was low, nearly swallowed by the soft ticking of the wall clock behind him. "Servants, nobles, even those who usually can’t keep their tongues still. This is... a direct order."

Valerie didn’t blink. "Then why are you telling me?"

Because you’re my friend, Valerie.

Ethan didn’t say it dramatically. His tone was flat, honest and that was what made it heavier.

"I can’t let you be lied to," he continued. "Not you."

Valerie’s heart began to pound harder. There was a strange pressure in her chest the same feeling as standing at the edge of a cliff, knowing that once you take a step forward, there is no way back.

"Ethan," she said quietly, but firmly. "What are you actually trying to tell me?"

Ethan glanced aside for a moment, then lifted his hand and pointed toward the clock on the shop wall. Its hands moved slowly, but the sound of its ticking was suddenly too loud.

"The Kosler family temple," he said.

Valerie frowned. "The temple...?"

"Half an hour," Ethan cut in. His gaze snapped back to hers, sharp and heavy with meaning. "Look at the time."

Valerie followed his eyes.

Half an hour.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Her voice was barely there.

Ethan didn’t answer with the words Valerie wanted no explanation, no reassurance, not even a comforting lie.

"You’ll understand when you see it for yourself."

Silence.

Valerie stood there, surrounded by the scent of cakes and sweet bread, yet bitterness crept across her tongue. Something was beginning to take shape in her mind not a clear image, only a rough shadow that made her stomach churn.

"Everyone around you will stay silent," Ethan went on. "Your attendants, the guards, even those who care about you. All of them have chosen not to speak. But..." He hesitated. "If you want, I can go with you."

Valerie swallowed.

She knew that once she saw what Ethan meant, there would be no more pretending. No more maybe. Only reality.

She drew in a deep breath.

"Meet me," she said at last, her voice steady despite the trembling in her chest, "at the pink door. The district on the edge of the central quarter."

Ethan went still for a fraction of a second, then nodded. "I’ll be there. I’ll find you."

Valerie returned the nod and turned away without another word.

The shop bell chimed as she stepped outside.

The air felt colder than before.

"My lady, you’re not buying any bread?" Sera asked, puzzled.

Lira added with an attempted smile, "What did you choose, Madam?"

Valerie didn’t slow her steps."Nothing looked good," she said shortly. "Let’s leave. Now."

Her tone wasn’t raised, nor did it tremble but there was something in it that made Sera and Lira exchange a quick glance before obeying at once.

The carriage began to move. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

And inside Valerie’s chest, time kept ticking.

Half an hour.

And she knew whatever she was about to see, her life would never return to what it had been.

Valerie knocked on Lena’s door once, twice.No answer.

She pushed it open gently; the old hinges creaked softly, but the room inside was empty. The familiar scent of herbs that usually soothed her now felt cold, abandoned as though the place had been left in haste.

"Lena...?" she called, uselessly.

Unease tightened immediately at the back of her neck. Valerie turned and moved toward the side exit. The outside air greeted her louder, more alive and that was when she saw Ethan standing beside an old tree, half-hidden by shadow.

He didn’t approach.He didn’t dare.

Sera and Lira were still with the coachman, and Noel, the guard, stood not far away, alert. And yet somehow, Valerie’s step outside went unnoticed by all of them as if the city itself had chosen to look away.

"What is it you’re really trying to show me?" Valerie whispered once she was close enough.

Ethan looked at her, his face tight."Come with me."

They walked. Valerie followed without further questions, her steps light while her heart ran ahead of her. The crowd thickened, voices overlapping, and then suddenly a stone building with towering pillars rose before them a temple.

That day, the temple was alive with people; prayers blended with whispers, hope tangled with curiosity.

Ethan stopped briefly, then opened his cloak and draped it over Valerie’s shoulders."For discretion," he said shortly.

He led her to a side entrance a narrow path most people never noticed. Cold corridors welcomed them, candlelight reflected off stone walls, casting shadows that swayed like held breath. Their steps were measured, silent, until at last they reached a small balcony overlooking the main hall.

Valerie stopped breathing.

Below them, two figures stood.

Time seemed to freeze in a single second that refused to pass. Her eyes locked not on faces, not on words but on a glint that could not be mistaken.

A ring.

The blue stone she had once seen hidden inside Demian’s coat now rested on the ring finger of another woman.

Ivanka.

Valerie’s chest collapsed not in an explosion, but slowly, like an old structure that had been cracked for too long and finally gave in to its own weight. The surrounding sounds faded, replaced by the dull pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.

"Demian..." she murmured, barely a sound.