The Duke's Passion

The second the woman ran past him, her long hazel hair that was tied into a ponytail flowed back. Time seemed to stop for a second as Claude just stood there frozen. When he blinked, time resumed as he turned his head back, only to see the woman's back.

"Hey, out of our way!" one of her pursuers hollered, but Claude kept his eyes on the woman's back. "I said, out of —"

Before the three ruffians could step foot in Claude's vicinity, the corner of his lips curled up into a smirk. He didn't even bother looking back, as his knights had already blocked the three men from approaching.

"A thief, huh?" he mumbled, glancing over his shoulders with the devious smirk plastered on his lips. "I will catch the thief myself. Don't follow me."

Claude didn't wait for his knights' reply as he had already chased after that woman who caught his eyes.

******

"Oh, goodness!" the woman panted for air, sliding down her back into one of the narrow alleys as her knees wobbled. She looked from the path she went from, heaving a sigh of relief seeing that no one seem to have followed her.

"Thank God," she muttered along with her ragged breaths, patting her chest lightly. "How dare they call me a thief? Those old goons. Trying to trick me when they lost the bet," came out a grumble while shaking her head, giggling right after as she took out a pouch that had her gambling winning.

"Gosh... I earned a —" she jumped when she suddenly heard a chuckle right in her ear. The woman looked back, holding the pouch close to her chest securely. Her eyes scrutinized the man squatting just right beside her with a bright smile that made his eyes squint into mere slits.

"Who - who are you?" she asked warily.

Claude didn't answer but kept his smile, studying her from head to toe. "Why are you dressed like that in this cold weather? Are you perhaps a whore?"

"What —" the woman's eyes dilated as she gazed down, realizing she was still wearing her costume from last night.

"I'm interested how much." Claude cupped his cheeks innocently as if he was simply asking for candy.

"Pardon?"

"How much are you worth? I want to take you to bed tonight..."

SLAP!

Claude raised a brow as his face was tossed to the side upon that resounding slap. He wiped the area she slapped, glancing back at her. She was staring at him as if he had disgraced her; he wondered, why? She appeared to be someone who worked in a whorehouse, especially the revealing clothes under her coat.

"I am not like that," she affirmed with a shaking voice.

"Well, you could've said it was a misunderstanding. Why would you resort to violence?" he asked and tilted his head as if he was a saint who couldn't hurt a fly. His rational argument rendered her speechless, mouth opening and closing, but no words came out.

"This is the problem with people." Claude pointed out as his eyes sharpened. "They resort to violence before the proper talk. Hah... I thought you were a bit special since you have the same hazel hair."

His eyelids drooped dangerously. He disliked it; people touching him, much more hurt him. The last time someone tried to assassinate him was years ago, and Klaus made sure that person begged to get executed instead.

But this woman just slapped him. Just how would he let her get away from that? There was only a limit to his patience and interest. Men and women alike deserved equal punishment, just like how Lilou gave equal opportunities and equality when she was the tigress in Grimsbanne.

Claude stopped the time so no one would be able to see what he would do to her. But alas, even after he cast his ability, the woman blinked.

"I'm — I'm sorry. I didn't mean to slap you, and I know it will only sound an excuse if I said it was the lack of sleep or just the stress. But I'm really sorry." She apologized while rubbing her palms against each other, not a bit affected by his ability. "Here. See a physician."

She dropped a few pennies near him and awkwardly smile. She perked her neck to see if anyone was behind him, but even though no one was there, she couldn't be complacent.

"I'm really sorry," she repeated and hastily picked herself up. As soon as she stood, she cast Claude a quick, apologetic look.

"Sorry..." she lowered her head before jogging away, turning to the right of the alley.

Meanwhile, Claude could only stare at her as he undid his ability. "That is strange," he mumbled, gazing down to pick up the pennies she left him. No one in this empire aside from a few strong individuals that weren't affected by his ability.

She didn't seem that strong, although she ran quite fast since she outran those who were chasing after her. Still, that was strange. He was a pureblood, so it was easy for him to tell if she was someone whom he needed to be wary of in the blood hierarchy.

He could even tell the abnormalities in Lilou's blood the first time he met her. In other words, Claude would know if that woman was someone who could threaten his life. The problem was, there was nothing special he felt from her. His only reason for chasing after her was because of her hazel hair that reminded him of Lilou's hair.

Claude knew he needed to address this matter and get to the bottom of why that woman wasn't affected by the time.

"Hah..." he chuckled, playing the coin in his hand as he gazed to where she left. "I guess she's special in a way."

Claude slowly got up to his feet and tossed the coin in the air, catching it midair. "If it's head, I will see her again. But if it's tails, I'll kill her." He gazed at his fist for a while before he slowly opened them. The corner of his lips stretched into a grin as soon as he saw the coin.

"Head. I guess I don't also need to resort to violence first." He glanced in the direction she left and smirked. "Hmm… how interesting."