CHAPTER 2

Alena had always believed in spirits and the afterlife, but never would she have thought that she would one day find herself becoming a ghost. It was a strange feeling, being weightless and translucent yet still conscious and aware.

She didn’t know what her entire appearance really looked like because apparently—as she found out earlier while roaming around in the castle—she couldn’t see herself in the mirror. 

For hours since she met that red-haired spirit, she had spent hours roaming around the Duke's estate. It was truly massive. Even in her ghost form, where she could pass through any walls and barricades, it still took her quite a while to check every room.

She had tried to look for the assassin, but it seemed that the man had already shredded his disguise. Since she had only seen his pair of black eyes, Alena knew it wouldn’t be easy for her to find him. But she didn’t have any plans to give up so easily.

When she overheard that the Duke was not yet back, she decided to look for his room.

And contrary to the bright and sparkling exterior of the Duke’s grand castle, the interior was not what Alena was expecting. As she moved through the dark and empty halls, she couldn't help but crease her brows. The soldiers were scattered only on the training grounds, the corridors, and the courtyard, but most of the inside of the palace was deserted and lifeless.

The Duke of Donovia was known to be the wealthiest in the Kingdom, just second to the royal family, so she had been expecting lavishness. But instead, she found that almost everything inside the castle was considered old, and it looked as though it had not been used for decades.

It was hard to believe, especially becasaue the Duke's wealth had always been a big issue in the royal palace. Even the royal family kept claiming that this massive castle contained lavish luxury and treasures that the Donovians had obtained both legally and illegally over the years.

But now that she was here, Alena saw nothing of the supposed treasures anywhere. The castle was just like an old, abandoned luxury palace, where everything within had not been improved for maybe a hundred years already.

Even the Duke's bedchamber was underwhelming. His bedroom wasn't even the castle's master bedroom–a fact that made Alena even more mystified.

The room was not anything special from the rest. It was dark and dull, with just the very basic things inside. She couldn't even find anything that was unusual or worth investigating.

And now, the day had already fallen and Alena still found nothing.

Disappointed, Alena had just emerged from the castle wall when she passed two maids in the courtyard.

“I just saw His Grace enter?” one of the maids asked.

“How about the duchess? She’s with him, right?” 

Alena rushed past them and made her way back to the castle until she stopped before the massive double doors that guarded the Duke's inner sanctum.

With a fierce look in her eyes, Alena stared at the closed doors. 

"I hope you're ready," she hissed through gritted teeth as she finally passed through the doors. "You bloody, evil, ugly piece of Duke–"

She froze, mouth agape at the sight of a completely naked man standing before her. And he wasn’t just any man. It’s a man too perfect to be real. Every inch of his sculpted muscles and chiseled features were like works of art... literally like a perfect bronze sculpture in the flickering candlelight.

Who is he?!

She had never before laid eyes on a man as perfect as him.

Wh-what is a man this beautiful doing inside the chamber of the Duke?! Wait… could it be that… is he the Duke’s lover?!!!

One thing that Alena could confirm about the Duke of Donovia was that he had refused any marriage proposals except hers. He had never been seen with a lover or even rumored to have one. According to hearsays, the Duke was never by himself with a woman and was always with his male knights.

In fact, the topic of the Duke's lack of interest in women was so popular that even the officials started speculating that the Duke might not be interested in females at all, but rather in males.

"Good lord..." Alena couldn't help but groan as the realization hit her. "It seems the rumors were true all along. But of course, who wouldn't want a man like this as a lover? If I were the Duke, I don't think I could keep my hands off someone this gorgeous!"

Alena didn’t notice but the man's body seemed to stiffen, his muscles tensing as if he had just heard something ridiculous.

"Oh lord..." Alena's voice trailed off as a thought occurred to her. Then her eyes stretched even wider in shock as she considered the possibility. "Could this be the reason why the Duke ordered my assassination? Because he already had this unreal beauty of a perfect man...?"

As Alena continued to voice her conclusions with increasing anger, the man lifted his gaze.

Their eyes met. 

Alena immediately froze. And it wasn't just because of the fact that he was looking straight into her eyes. It was because his eyes were a shade of fiery gold!

These were eyes that belonged to only one person in the entire Kingdom.

They belonged to none other than the Duke of Donovia!

This is… Duke Kaztiel Donovian?!!

Alena could hardly believe her eyes. Because it seemed the knowledge she and the entire Kingdom had about the Duke's appearance appeared to be completely… utterly wrong!

Duke Kaztiel Donovian was known as a ruthless and mysterious man, feared by many in the Kingdom. His reputation was so fearsome that he even managed to strike serious fear in the heart of the King himself. In fact, the King was unable to even summon him to attend significant social gatherings; instead, he had to send invitations that the Duke only declined.

It had even become widely known that the Duke only responded to the King's summons if he was being sent to war.

This was why Alena had never met the Duke… until now.

Everybody also knew that for countless years, the Duke’s face remained shrouded in mystery, and no one had caught even a glimpse of it. People were saying that one of the legendary battles he had led in the past had left his face scarred. It was rumored that the lower half of his face bore the horrific scars of that tragic day, causing him to hide his appearance.

Staring at him, Alena couldn’t help but shake her head in disbelief. Who would have thought that the Duke actually looked like this? Why did he hide his face? What could be the reason for him to conceal such a handsome face all these years?

"And for the love of... why does this man have to look like this..." she trailed off, suddenly aware of what she was saying and thinking.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to focus and scolded herself firmly. "Focus! Don't you dare forget. Don't forget that this man is the reason you're here—a ghost stuck in her cursed wedding dress. This is the man you promised to drag down to hell with you!"

Her eyes blazed with a renewed fire of vengeance as she continued coldly. “I don't care if you're the most beautiful man I've ever seen. You're still going to die by my hands–"

The Duke suddenly took a step towards her. Alena's eyes widened.

Wait… why is he…

Shock and disbelief started to grip her entire being.

Don’t tell me… he could see me?!

Alena instinctively stepped back.

This man could see me?! A ghost?!