Chapter 459: Duke: "Divorce Them.

A damp, cold sea breeze instantly swept through the entire room.

Yu Zhizhi thought she saw a black shadow. She slowly tightened her grip on her dress. The blurry silhouette looked like a snake.

A black snake.

It seemed to be in pain. Before Yu Zhizhi could even get a clear look at it, the black snake’s figure slowly vanished.

The black snake was swallowed by the white mist.

The carved golden lotuses on the window were strikingly lifelike. The mist swirled, slowly gathering two meters from the bedside until it formed a human figure.

Yu Zhizhi saw him clearly.

“Duke…?”

The attendants who brought her here had said she was to see the City Lord. When she refused, they had resorted to force.

Yu Zhizhi thought of that black snake again…

‘Could that be the City Lord of Silan City?’

‘So, did the Duke just intervene?’

Yu Zhizhi suddenly thought of something. She raised her hands and touched the mask on her face.

The mask was still there.

She had also drunk the medicine to hide her aura.

Then…

She stared, dazed, at the figure not far in front of her. She couldn’t be sure if it was his real body or a Clone.

‘The Duke should be in the banquet hall right now…’

The bedchamber fell into silence.

Yu Zhizhi didn’t dare to look directly into the eyes of the man in the white mist. Whether it was his Clone or his true self, the Duke’s appearance here meant he must have already recognized her.

She just wondered when he had found out that she’d come to Silan City.

Yu Zhizhi slowly exhaled in her mind. Mustering her courage, she looked at the man’s golden, slitted pupils in the mist. “Con-congratulations.”

He was getting married tomorrow.

Besides saying “congratulations,” Yu Zhizhi didn’t know what else she could say.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Zhizhi thought she heard the man let out a soft laugh.

The Duke’s tone was the same as when they’d first met, lazy with a hint of cold indifference. “You actually dared to come back.”

Yu Zhizhi’s breath hitched.

‘Thinking of the Duke’s past behavior… he wouldn’t still try to pick a Beast Husband from the Valoran Empire for me after he gets married tomorrow, would he?’

“I… I’m with Lord Shen He.”

Her voice grew softer.

She said it with little conviction.

Yu Zhizhi hadn’t expected to have private contact with the Duke again.

Once he was married, they would see each other even less.

The Duke hadn’t contacted her in so long. Maybe he’d already moved on and wanted nothing more to do with her.

On this planet, a Beast Husband must be loyal to his wife.

And only to his wife.

At the mention of Shen He’s name, the Duke’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. The white mist billowed, swaying with the breeze. His golden, slitted pupils stared fixedly at the little female by the bed. After a long moment, he turned to leave.

The Duke said nothing.

It was as if she and everything about her had nothing to do with him anymore.

Seeing this, Yu Zhizhi’s heart skipped a beat. Before she could even process it, she had already rushed forward—

“Duke.”

Yu Zhizhi reached out and clutched the sleeve of his misty form. If she didn’t get some things clear now, she might never have the chance again.

This might be the last time she ever saw the Duke.

The Duke turned back, his golden, slitted pupils landing on the little female’s white mask. He watched her without a word.

Yu Zhizhi held his sleeve, her fingertips trembling slightly. “Do… do you like her?”

‘Does he like Miss Jin She?’

“And what if I do?”

The Duke’s tone betrayed no emotion. This was different from before; his temper had never been good, and Yu Zhizhi had seen him angry countless times.

A pang of bitterness went through her.

It was just as she had imagined. The Duke chose to marry Miss Jin She because he liked her.

That’s why he left the Imperial City.

That’s why…

He wasn’t constantly scheming to capture her like he used to.

‘Has his affection for me dropped to Zero?’

Yu Zhizhi’s mind was buzzing. As if making a last, desperate struggle, she murmured, “Could you… not like her…?”

Actually, what she wanted to say was—

‘Could you like me instead?’

But she didn’t have the right to say such things now.

Yu Zhizhi slowly loosened her hand.

She realized that her mission was now impossible. She would be trapped in this world forever.

Yu Zhizhi’s nose stung.

She took two steps back.

The Duke’s golden, slitted pupils narrowed. Beneath the mask, he saw a single, crystalline tear trace a path down her jaw. The little female’s shoulders trembled faintly as she cried in silent, suppressed sobs.

He suddenly raised his hand, his fingers closing around the white mask on her face.

And pulled it off.

He saw the little rabbit’s red-rimmed eyes, staring at him in panic.

“What are you crying for?” he asked.

Yu Zhizhi stared blankly at the man before her.

Without the mask, her emotions had nowhere to hide.

Yu Zhizhi quickly turned away, wiping the tearstains from her chin with the back of her hand. “I… I… I just feel a little sad…”

‘Sad?’

The Duke stared intently at the little female before him. “I don’t recall you being this sad when you were about to kill yourself for that loser.”

Yu Zhizhi didn’t make a sound.

The Duke sneered.

‘What did she just ask?’

‘Could I… not like someone else?’

“I can,” the Duke said, enunciating each word. “Dissolve your territory, cast them aside, and come back to me.”

Yu Zhizhi froze.

The Duke’s expression was one of someone who had expected this reaction all along. He slowly turned, his snake-like tail swishing slowly within the white mist.

He said nothing more and walked straight out of the bedchamber.

Yu Zhizhi clenched the hem of her dress.

Everything between her and the Duke was over.

As he was leaving, the Duke heard sobs from behind him. He faltered for a moment. A flicker of anger surfaced in his golden, slitted pupils, and he pressed his lips into a tight line, choosing not to turn back right away.

After a long moment, he left without looking back.

This time, Yu Zhizhi cried her heart out.

She sat on the cold floor, leaning against the bedside, hugging a soft white pillow.

By her curled-up feet lay the white mask the Duke had tossed aside.

Buli, who had appeared outside at some point, listened to Miss Rabbit’s sobs with a flicker of sympathy in his eyes.

He couldn’t help but look back at Lord Shen He, who was standing nearby.

He was standing in the shadows, perfectly still.

The sky was growing dark.

Buli saw Lord Shen He let out a sigh before walking into the bedchamber, stopping behind Miss Rabbit.

“How much longer are you going to cry?” Shen He’s tone wasn’t gentle, but it was milder than usual.

He crouched down, his large palm landing on the little female’s head.

“It’s just a wedding. What’s the big deal?”

Yu Zhizhi lifted her tear-filled rabbit eyes. Looking at the Big Shark who had suddenly appeared, she somehow felt even more like crying.

Shen He thought that the little Rabbit Clan female before him was the most troublesome creature in the entire world.

She was weak, a crybaby, and a flirt who attracted trouble, fickle as the wind.

He had seen many people’s tears.

Tears of excitement, passion, fear, pain…

The tears of those who groveled on the ground, trembling and begging for mercy, had never moved him.

But it was different now.

He didn’t want to see her cry.