ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 55: Parasites whose names are family

Sera and Lira bowed their heads, relieved and wary at once.

Valerie rose and walked toward the window. From there, the capital stretched out in all its grandeur beautiful, cruel, and filled with traps.

She understood now.

If Ivanka Kosler fought with her father’s power, then Valerie could not survive on dignity alone.

She had to learn to stand on the same ground beneath the shadow of the name Duke Morvex.

And for the first time, Valerie was no longer thinking only of how to endure.

She began to think of how not to lose.

That afternoon, Valerie once again stood behind the tall window of Morvex Castle.

She watched Demian’s back as he moved away his dark cloak fluttering in the wind, his stride swift and purposeful. He did not glance upward, did not leave even a brief message. Since yesterday since the night before, even they had not truly met. Demian came and went like a shadow, physically present yet absent from her life.

Valerie was not angry. She was simply... aware.

The man was busy. And in the capital, a duke’s busyness rarely meant anything trivial.

She drew in a long breath and turned, intending to return to the inner chambers when the sound of footsteps and a servant’s announcement stopped her.

"Guests for Lady Valerie."

Before she could even ask who, the great doors of the receiving room were already opening.

Valerie froze.

Count Austin stepped inside with the same commanding bearing as always, more like a landowner than a father. Beside him, Countess Austin, her stepmother, wore a thin smile that always appeared cordial yet never warm. Behind them stood Jester her brother his upright posture too deliberate, too forced, and Bianca, her stepsister, with an openly irritated expression she did not even bother to hide.

A different kind of exhaustion spread through Valerie’s chest.

"Why are you here?" she asked directly, without pleasantries.

Count Austin smiled faintly, as if the question amused him."We should be the ones asking that," he said. "You’re already in the capital. It would be only proper for you to visit the family home."

Valerie looked at her father calmly."I can’t leave this castle without the Duke’s permission. The Duke has his own rules."

Bianca clicked her tongue softly, clearly displeased."You could have just said so," she scoffed. "If you want permission, ask for it. No need to make it so complicated."

Valerie turned to her, her gaze flat.

"If it were really that simple," she replied quietly, "you wouldn’t be seeing me standing in front of you right now."

She paused briefly."I want to leave too."

The room fell silent at once.

"Enough," Count Austin cut in sharply, looking at both Bianca and Valerie. "Stop talking about trivial things."

Valerie exhaled slowly.

Now she understood.Her father had not come merely for a family visit.

"Just say it," Valerie said at last, her voice calm but guarded. "What is it that you want?"

Count Austin studied her for a moment, then spoke as though stating the most natural thing in the world.

"Now that you are the Duke’s woman," he said, "it’s only right that you share with your family."

Valerie raised an eyebrow."Share what?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Count Austin replied. "Power. Influence. And of course... money."

Valerie gave a small, cold smile."Every month," she said "the Austin family already receives a share from the gemstone mine the Duke granted to me."

She met her father’s gaze directly."Is that still not enough?"

Count Austin frowned."That is a fixed amount," he said. "It cannot be changed."

Countess Austin finally spoke, her voice gentle yet piercing."Valerie, don’t be so stingy with your own family," she said. "We’re in need of funds. Jester is about to enter the imperial forces as an officer."

Valerie turned to Jester."Isn’t serving the empire free?" she asked innocently.

Jester gave a stiff smile."How could it be?" he answered quickly. "Through the official route, there are costs. That’s why I want you to speak to the Duke. So things can be... made easier."

Valerie sighed, holding back the fatigue that was beginning to press down on her.

Bianca immediately cut in, her voice sharp with the same old envy."Jester is your brother," she said. "You should be thinking about his future."

Valerie looked at Bianca for a long moment.

There were so many things she wanted to say about childhood, about comparisons, about wounds that had always been ignored. But she chose her words carefully, cold and clear.

"It seems," Valerie said softly, "that you should think before you speak."

Bianca fell silent.

"The future of anyone," Valerie continued "is not my responsibility."

Silence fell like a heavy weight.

Count Austin stared at his daughter with an expression hard to read somewhere between anger, appraisal, and recalculation. Countess Austin pressed her lips together, while Jester lowered his head, clearly not expecting the refusal to come so swiftly.

Valerie stood straight.

She was no longer a little girl who could be pressed down by family status.Nor was she a woman who could be squeezed for gain simply because she stood beside a Duke.

Count Austin finally slammed the small cane he was holding against the marble floor not hard, but firm enough to silence every sound.

"Enough," he said coldly. "Stop making noise."

The room fell instantly quiet.

He looked at Valerie with a gaze that no longer tried to resemble that of a father. What remained was a man calculating profit and loss.

"I don’t want to waste time," he continued. "Just give me the money. I need it. This family needs it."

Valerie did not move.

"It will take time before the profits from the mine the Duke granted arrive," Count Austin went on. "We can’t afford to wait."

Valerie exhaled slowly, then spoke in a flat but unmistakably clear voice.

"I don’t have any money."

Four pairs of eyes snapped toward her.

Shock.

Bianca even let out a small laugh, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke.

"You don’t have money?" she repeated sharply. "Are you kidding?"

Jester frowned. "You’re the Duke of Morvex’s woman," he said in disbelief. "How could you possibly not have money?"

Countess Austin looked Valerie up and down, as if searching for signs of deceit.

"Then what have you been doing all this time?" she asked with a sneer. "You live in the Duke’s castle, not in a convent."

Bianca snorted, her words spilling out without restraint.

"You’re truly stupid," she said. "Utterly stupid."

Valerie looked at her calmly.

"Utterly stupid," Bianca went on mockingly. "Sleeping with the Duke, yet not even taking his money."

The words cut deep, but Valerie showed no reaction. She had heard similar insults too many times before only now they were spoken openly, without the thin disguise of family.

"The Duke has already given me a mine," Valerie said at last. "And many other gifts."

She met her father’s gaze directly.

"The money from that mine is no small amount."

Count Austin sneered.

"So?"

"I can’t ask for more," Valerie continued. "I’m not a greedy person."

Count Austin shook his head slowly, as though looking at a child who didn’t understand the world.

"You should be smarter," he said. "If possible, you should ask for a castle."

Valerie froze for a brief moment.

"A castle?"

"Why not?" Count Austin replied. "The Duke has already taken what he wanted from you."