A few hours after they got the news that Cecile was kidnapped…

Lucien kept pacing back and forth in the office. He couldn't stand just sitting around while they waited for the information regarding Cheshire Nomal's hideout.

"Lord Renand," Giselle called out to him, and he quickly looked up at her. "Please sit down. You're making me dizzy."

Lucien hesitated for a moment before he finally took a seat on the sofa right in front of Giselle’s desk. Even after he sat down, his legs couldn’t sit still and made a lot of noises.

“I understand that you’re uneasy, but doing that is not going to get the investigation result to come any faster,” Giselle finally said with a sigh after being unable to bear the sound of Lucien’s stomping anymore.

Hearing that, Lucien immediately turned to her and gave her a glare. He was already feeling so anxious as he was, and what she said didn’t help him at all.

“Do you really? That is MY sister. I don’t think a cold person like you will ever understand what I’m feeling, Your Highness,” Lucien retorted with a harsh tone. He turned his head to the other side and clenched on his fist.

Silence filled the air between them. After a moment, Lucien took a deep breath and turned his head back towards Giselle.

“I apologize. I was out of line,” he said with a bow. As emotional as he was, he shouldn’t have said something that would hurt other people. That was how he was always taught as a child.

“...No, I’m also sorry,” Giselle replied without meeting his eyes.

The two of them went silent again. It was so awkward that Lucien wished he could just leave the room at once. He was fiddling with his fingers when someone finally knocked on the study’s door.

Lucien immediately stood up and rushed to the door to open it. The person outside seemed startled at the abrupt door opening when he looked at Lucien, whose eyes were almost popping out due to how impatient he was.

“Lord Renand, please let him in first,” Giselle said. Lucien nodded and stepped aside so the person could enter the study and make his way towards Giselle. He followed right behind him after closing the door.

“Greetings to Your Highness,” the person said with a bow. “We have found the location of Cheshire Nomal’s hideout.”

“Are you positive?” Giselle asked the person. He nodded with certainty.

Giselle then took a glance at Lucien, seemingly to gauge his reaction, before standing up.

“Lead the way.”

***

Fool her once, shame on him. Fool her twice, shame on her.

That was what Cecile was thinking at the moment. She couldn’t believe that she was stupid enough to have a conversation with a man as potentially dangerous—and now proven to be truly dangerous—as Cheshire without as much as a guard by her side.

Now she was right here, blindfolded and tied up in arms and legs in god knows where.

“Are you awake?” she heard Cheshire’s voice gently say. That voice used to make her feel so happy, but the only thing she felt now was disgust.

If her mouth wasn't covered, she would have thrown him insults after insults. He certainly made the right decision in taping her mouth up.

The only thing she could do was make growling noises at him in anger.

"I'm so sorry, my lady. It will be over soon, I promise," Cheshire said. He almost sounded like he really meant it.

Judging by how she couldn't feel any shaking, Cecile guessed that they were no longer in the carriage and had already arrived in Cheshire's hideout or something.

Cecile could feel the presence of someone approaching her even with her eyes blindfolded. That person then took off the blindfold from her eyes, causing her eyes to squint at the sudden surge of light entering her field of vision.

When her eyes finally got used to the light, the first thing she saw was three girls huddled up together in the corner, all with their mouths covered and their arms and legs tied up.

Cecile widened her eyes when she recognized Lady Mondia among them, and the same thing happened to Lady Mondia when she looked at Cecile.

As Cecile took a glance at the other two ladies, she noticed how frail they already looked after such a long time being confined.

Suddenly, rage filled her heart and she glared at Cheshire, who was by her side holding onto the blindfold covering her eyes just earlier.

He gave her a smile, as if he didn’t think anything was wrong. In fact, he looked pretty bashful like he just did something good.

“You will definitely like where we’re going tomorrow. I guarantee!” he said in a cheerful tone.

The more he opened his mouth, the more nauseating he sounded. What did he mean she was going to like where they were going tomorrow? After kidnapping her and tying her and the other girls up like this?

At that moment, someone called for Cheshire from outside. He took a glance at the door before placing his hands on Cecile’s shoulders, as if to reassure her.

“I’ll be back. Stay here, all right? My lady,” he said with a worried expression on his face, so much that she would probably think he really was worried about her if she didn't know better.

After Cheshire left the room, Cecile turned to Lady Mondia and communicated to her through her eyes.

Why are you here?! she tried to say telepathically, but of course, Lady Mondia couldn't hear her. She only managed to guess from Cecile's expression.

Lady Mondia shook her head before tears started welling up in her eyes. When she saw that, Cecile felt bad for her.

Lady Mondia was even more of a hopeless romantic than Cecile was. That was also one of the things they were competing on—becoming the protagonist of the romance of the century. Cecile figured this whole thing would be even more of a shock to Lady Mondia. Maybe she would've reacted the same had Lucien not given her that investigation document…

Cecile closed her eyes. She was sure that her family had been informed of her disappearance by now. She knew help would come soon enough since the princess was already investigating the location of this hideout.

At this point, all she had to do was stay alert, safe, and wait. She shook her head a few times to try to set her disheveled light blue hair aside from covering her face.

Cheshire returned to the room where the ladies were located after what seemed like forever. He had a smile on his face as usual as he entered.

Oh, how Cecile wanted to make him stop smiling for the rest of his life the moment she manages to break out of this place later.

As to why she was so mad, it was because on top of being deceived yet again, she saw and experienced firsthand how Cheshire was treating her and the other women.

She wasn’t even sure if he was actually treating them as human beings.

“Tomorrow,” Cheshire said as he took a seat by Cecile’s side. “I will finally be able to share all of you beauties to others.”

Chills went up Cecile’s back. What was this guy talking about? Share them to others?

“It has always been a dream of mine to share everything that’s good in my life to other people who need it. Since all four of you are the best things that have happened to me, I figured that I should start sharing you as well! Those people will be so happy once they get the same amount of love you gave me all this time. After all, I’ve always been taught to share what I love to others,” he rambled on.

Cecile took a glance at Lady Mondia to question what he just said, but Lady Mondia only shook her head, seemingly also in confusion and panic over his remark.

Oh, he’s not right in the head, Cecile finally realized.

It was no wonder that Cecile never realized that he was deceiving her. It was because he actually wasn’t. He seemed to genuinely think that he was in love with her—scratch that, with ALL FOUR of them. He actually was charitable, but in a very wrong way.

Cecile made noises again and wriggled around as a sign of defiance. She gave Cheshire a glare, but it didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest.

“What’s wrong, my lady? Do you have something to say to me?” Cheshire said with a tone of concern as he took off the cover from Cecile’s mouth. The moment her mouth was free, Cecile immediately spoke up about what was on her mind.

“What you’re doing isn’t love, asshole,” she said while gritting her teeth.

Cheshire gasped like he just heard something unbelievable.

“My lady! That is not an appropriate thing to say as a noblewoman! And whatever do you mean by that?” he tilted his head.

“It means exactly as I say. There is something wrong with your head if you think that what you’re doing is out of love,” Cecile said.

"But why not? I love all of you and you all love me too. Doesn't that make whatever we do an act of love?" Cheshire said, frowning.

Cecile squinted her eyes at him. She didn't feel like anything she said was gonna get through to him at this point, but she was much too riled up at this point.

“Love is supposed to be about caring. How is anything you’re doing right now a sign that you care about me—about us? You deprived us of our freedom, how is that love?” Cecile said in a challenging tone.

As someone who had always dreamed of love, she was offended that this guy was sullying the meaning of love.

“No! It is love! Madame Scherz said that my love is valid! ” Cheshire raised his voice. He then grabbed onto Cecile’s arms and squeezed them so hard it hurt. Did this guy forget that he had a much bigger body than her? And Madame Scherz who?

“I don’t know who that Madame Scherz or whoever is, but she is wrong. Whatever you’re doing right now isn’t an act of love, but an act that would erase any love we ever had for you. Not that I have any in me,” Cecile said, causing Cheshire to freeze in place.

“What…? Don’t you still love me…? Isn’t your family the only reason you were breaking things off with me…?” Cheshire said, his voice shaking and his eyes brimming with tears. He looked just like a child that was about to be abandoned by his parents.

"I don't love you," Cecile said with conviction. She felt her throat choke up as she said it, but she held it in and covered it up pretty well. She gritted her teeth. "Not anymore."

Cheshire's mouth opened in shock. It genuinely baffled Cecile that he actually believed she was still going to love him after everything he just did. Her eyes were staring straight into his without showing any sign of fear.

"N—"

Suddenly, loud noises could be heard from outside and in a split second, the door burst open. The person who burst the door open stormed in and grabbed Cheshire's shirt from behind, flinging him away from Cecile.

"Get away from my sister, you bastard!" Lucien said, pointing his gun at Cheshire.