Bait and Deal

The look of pain that flashed across her face made my chest clench uncomfortably. No matter what, I didn’t like seeing anyone suffering like that. The other thing that I didn’t know was why she was telling me this.

“You should say something. You’re so silent now that it scares me,” the duchess said before she smiled at me.

The painful and stressful look on her face was now gone and it was like she had reverted to the cheerful and beautiful young-looking duchess that I was used to seeing and spending time with.

“I’m very sorry. I just don’t really know what to say…” I confessed truthfully.

“I guess I can’t blame you. If you find what I just told you burdensome, you can just pretend that I never said anything and that you never heard anything,” the duchess suggested brightly.

How I wished that things would be just that simple. I didn’t find her words burdensome; however, I had to admit that it did complicate things. Not wanting to add more problems for myself, I decided that the co