ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 54: Don’t want to get involved in war
She folded her fingers together in her lap, as if restraining something turbulent in her chest.
"All this time, I’ve been walking with my eyes closed," she continued quietly. "I don’t want to be that way anymore."
Sera and Lira exchanged glances. This time there was no hesitation between them only a decision to be honest.
Lira drew a breath first.
"Lady Ivanka Kosler..." she began slowly, as if weighing every word, "...is not a woman easily read."
Valerie did not interrupt. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
"On the surface," Lira went on, "she is perfect. Always smiling, always graceful, always knowing exactly what to say and to whom."
Sera added, "She was raised to be the wife of a great noble. From childhood, she was taught how to stand, how to speak, even how to cry in front of the right people."
Valerie watched them without blinking.
"But beneath that," Sera continued, her tone lowering, "she is extremely... calculating."
"Calculating?" Valerie asked softly.
"There is not a single step she takes without a purpose," Lira replied. "Not a single word she speaks is truly accidental."
A chill crept up Valerie’s spine.
"Lady Kosler never attacks directly," Sera went on. "She will not shout, she will not pull someone’s hair in public."
"She makes others do it for her," Lira said simply.
Valerie let out a small breath, her eyes closing briefly. Yesterday’s threat subtle, cold, almost polite suddenly became far clearer in meaning.
"She never appears stained," Sera said. "But someone always falls afterward."
Valerie opened her eyes again. "And... how does she treat other women?"
Lira hesitated. "Especially women close to the Duke?"
Valerie nodded.
"She never openly forbids anything," Lira said. "She simply makes the situation impossible."
Sera continued, "There was once a noblewoman who was seen speaking with the Duke too often at a banquet. A few weeks later, that woman’s family lost political support. Their invitations stopped arriving."
Valerie swallowed.
"And Princess Anabela..." she asked quietly.
Sera’s expression shifted slightly. "That was the clearest case."
"Lady Kosler never once spoke the Princess’s name," Lira said. "Not even once. But after a few whispers spread, people began to keep their distance."
"Not because they hated Princess Anabela," Sera added. "But because they were afraid of Lady Kosler."
Valerie lowered her gaze, absorbing it all.
"She is patient," Lira said. "And her patience... is terrifying."
"Lady Kosler never needs to win immediately," Sera continued. "She always plays the long game."
Valerie fell silent for a long moment.
All the fragments finally formed a complete picture not of an emotional or merely jealous woman, but of someone who understood power better than most men at court.
"Thank you," Valerie said at last.
Her voice was calm, yet something within her had shifted.
"I no longer want to be blind," she said quietly. "If I must remain in this capital... I need to know who I am facing."
Sera and Lira bowed their heads together.
For the first time since arriving in the capital, Valerie was no longer merely reacting to events.
She was preparing.
And that for someone like Lady Ivanka Kosler might be the most dangerous thing of all.
Sera and Lira exchanged a brief glance before turning back to Valerie. This time, their faces held more than concern, there was an urgency that bordered on desperation.
"My lady," Sera spoke first, lowering her voice even though the room was empty, "you truly must be careful of Lady Kosler."
Valerie lifted her gaze.
"She often uses her father’s power," Sera continued. "And never carelessly."
Lira nodded. "Lady Kosler’s father holds great influence in the capital. Among the nobility, in social gatherings, even in decisions that seem insignificant."
Valerie remained silent, her eyes calm while her thoughts moved swiftly.
"That power makes Lady Kosler almost untouchable," Lira added. "People fear her not only because she is the Duke’s fiancée, but because of who her father is."
Valerie knew that.
She lowered her gaze for a moment as old memories slipped in unbidden.
Her sister.
For years, her sister had spoken the Kosler name in the same tone, full of warnings and veiled threats. Valerie knew well how Ivanka Kosler used the shadow of her father to pressure others. And more than that, she knew how her sister had always compared her to women like Ivanka, cornering her, belittling her, driven by an envy never openly admitted.
Valerie lifted her face again.
"I know," she said softly. "My sister used to talk about it often."
Sera looked slightly startled."My lady?"
"She used to remind me," Valerie went on, a faint, bitter smile forming at the corner of her lips. "Not to protect me, of course. More to frighten me."
Lira frowned."She was jealous of you," she said without hesitation.
Valerie did not deny it.
Silence fell briefly before Sera spoke again, her tone bolder this time.
"Precisely because of that, my lady... you must not lose."
Valerie looked at her.
"You are the Duke of Morvex’s woman now," Sera continued. "That is not a small position."
Lira stepped half a pace forward."If you do not wish the Duke to interfere in the affairs of the women of the capital, then you must use the power that already belongs to you."
Valerie blinked slowly.
"You mean..." she began hesitantly.
"The Duke’s power," Lira answered. "His name. His rank. His influence."
Valerie fell silent.
All this time, she had tried hard not to shelter behind Demian’s name. She did not want to appear dependent, nor be labeled a woman who lived off a man’s authority. But the reality of the capital was different, and that truth now stood naked before her.
"Here," Sera continued, "nothing is truly neutral."
"If you remain silent," Lira added, "people will assume you are weak."
Valerie closed her eyes briefly.
She hated the thought.Yet she could not deny its truth.
When she opened her eyes again, something had changed there not arrogance, nor empty ambition, but a cold acceptance of reality.
"I don’t want a war," she said quietly. "But I will not allow myself to be trampled."
