Ashton tidied up a pile of paperwork he had signed off on, most of which were cooperative business agreements, and a few complaints from the common people of Edinburgh that he needed to hear. Ashton was a good duke; he even received a letter of complaint from the common people in the interior of Edinburgh asking him to convey it to the king.

Ashton is also not afraid when the people ask for his signature, which they will give to the king. While it is good and an advantage for the people of Edinburgh, Ashton never says no to the people. Luckily, most of the people of Edinburgh are disciplined, understand what to ask for, and will probably accept a refusal from the king.

Ashton dubbed his people as smart people, so he never hesitated to agree to their requests. Ashton sighed. He took off his glasses before putting away the stack of completed documents in the right corner of his desk and moving to accompany the guests who had been waiting for him all along. With one hand in his trousers pocket, Ashton sauntered over to Katherine on the couch, where he was waiting or chatting with guests or business associates.

Katherine was able to see the muscles of his hands that were printed so clearly because Ashton folded the sleeves on his shirt up to his elbows with a smile that was intoxicating. Katherine even lost the memory that this man in front of her was actually only forced to accept their engagement; even this kindness and smile were solely for the sake of sheer courtesy towards him. Katherine was still unable to come to her senses even though her logic had dragged her heart and beat her to her senses.

For a few moments Katherine froze, she watched Ashton pour a glass of fresh drink with his own two hands, and the crazy suggestion grew again—every little action of the man made it seem like she was a special woman, treated with care as if he were in love. But deep inside there is another woman whose name is perfectly sculpted.

It's a funny game of love, again blinding. You will never be able to interpret logically even if the whole world screams at you stupid for falling in love with a man who doesn't love you. Katherine had just felt love; this was the first time she wanted a man so much that she was willing to go crazy to lose her pride to be accepted by him.

If Katherine owned the world, as long as Ashton loved her, maybe Katherine would give it to Ashton. For heaven's sake, even Katherine didn't know much about this man's personality. Ashton sat across from Katherine, his smile growing again and calmly folding one leg over the other and placing his hands clasped on his knees.

Ashton's magic seemed to still linger on until Katherine still hadn't woken up and took her eyes off the man. "I'm very curious how you came here without a word." Oh, Katherine even realized that the man was asking why she had come and disrupting her work, but Katherine didn't want to put forward her logic.

"I told you from the start, I just want to meet you and try to get closer to you." Katherine's slightly ambiguous words were impossible for Ashton to interpret. He was sure women would write letters and ask to meet instead of popping in and saying something abrupt and shocking—even though Katherine's reasoning didn't make any sense at all.

"I thought you should write me a letter first so I can take my time instead of leaving you up to fifteen minutes until I finish my work." There was nothing wrong with Ashton's words, even though there was a hint of annoyance at Katherine's arrival. And Katherine began to realize that her situation was not wanted.

"If... then I better get permission to go home." suddenly Katherine's voice trembled, the faintest refusal evidently enough to hurt her feelings. Katherine's gaze met those of the two clear green eyes, unable to help Katherine finally move—but just after Katherine said goodbye and was about to leave there, she felt Ashton's strong hand stop her.

Katherine's gaze now met Ashton's again; that face looked sorry for Katherine and seemed to have no other way but to hold her back. "Let's take a walk outside." Katherine's heartbeat returned irregularly; these were the words she had been waiting for to come out of the man's mouth. Ashton got up but he went first, leading Katherine to follow him.

Katherine herself was a little disappointed because she had hoped too much that Ashton would hold her hand, and they took a walk outside the Duke's mansion in the middle of the sun that was starting to wake up and brighten the day. Katherine only followed Ashton from behind; she didn't make a sound before Ashton started first.

The snow in the courtyard began to melt, and the plants began to beautify the Duke's mansion. Ashton stopped his steps and sat on a chair in the garden behind his house, which was overgrown with various kinds of flowers and also a fountain.

"Have I hurt your feelings, My Lady?" Katherine was stunned by how Ashton was so direct to the point and why they saw each other so much now. Katherine shook her head. This time Ashton turned sideways to look at Katherine carefully, as if he wanted to regret what he had done. Even so, it seemed Ashton wanted Katherine's purpose to come there because she did not agree with their secret engagement and wanted to cancel it. With that, he would not humiliate this girl and hurt the people he loves.

"I don't feel any pain now." Katherine's words left Ashton speechless. “Would you mind a secret engagement? It will hurt you as a woman. Not to mention that people will guess things that are not good.”

"I don't mind at all; I'm here to say that I agree to Doweger Duchess Rosella's request to keep the engagement a secret for a while." Katherine looked more sincere now, making Ashton unable to bear to look at her.

“You are another option for us; if Lady Darrellyn doesn't accept me, then I need you to give birth to my successor. Are you sure you want to accept an offer like this? Don't I look bad? And unfortunately, Katherine just nodded her head.

“First, I don't mind, and secondly, you are indeed evil, but the crime that you make the scenario is as good as possible so that your image is damaged in my eyes. I know you're a good man, so I won't listen to that,” Katherine said, which really made Ashton not expect that this woman would think so positively of him.

"I might hurt you, My Lady."

"I'm ready," Katherine's words surprised Ashton again. It seemed like Katherine really liked him; she didn't seem to want to take advantage of Ashton with her Duke title, but her eyes were so sincere. Ashton already knew how it felt to be ignored, and he didn't think he could hurt Katherine.

“Do you love me to be willing like this? You're hurting yourself when you could have run before you got hurt."

“You feel the same way, Your Grace. Lady Darrellyn is you before me right now. I'm not begging; I'm just saying my willingness to wait, keep it a secret, and risk being thrown away." Katherine's words were so bitter; she was willing to be hurt really, and Ashton didn't want to hurt her.

“I want to cancel the engagement. I can't hurt you or even Darrellyn."

“Does this esteemed and famous Duke really have wishy-washy thoughts?” she asked.

“Betrothal and marriage are agreements to live together until death do us part. It's a long-term relationship; how can I think about it rashly without considering it over and over again?"

"But it seems the secret engagement has been agreed upon by both parties; we can't change that." And Katherine didn't realize she was starting to flirt with Ashton.