The Cold Duke and the Modern Maiden

The last time Melissa was awake, she was busy choosing a dress for the university's 25th anniversary gala. She still remembered the sense of triumph as she had managed to snatch a good deal on a sapphire blue dress which didn't cost her a bomb as expected. She could imagine wearing it to the gala, with everyone admiring her. 'Professor Derrick would ask me to dance and then he would look into my eyes, leaned down and finally kiss me…!'The last sound she heard was the sound of tires screeching and suddenly she was thrown up in the air before landing hard on the road. The bag which contained the sapphire dress was laying on the ground beside her. Melissa wanted to get up but she couldn't move at all. She heard loud voices and people surrounding her but she couldn't do anything. Finally everything around her was dark and she seemed to have gone into abyss."Aaawwwww!!" Suddenly Melissa was jolted back to reality when she fell down hard on her back. She opened her eyes and looked around.

Few days had passed since she transmigrated and faked her sickness. During this time, she managed to gather more information from Lily regarding her intended fiancé and his background. It all matched whatever was described in the novel, except Lily didn't know anything about Lady Sophia, Duke Kensington's cousin and her nemesis in this life! This lady caused all her sufferings and ultimately her death, so she needed to know everything there was about her. Fortunately it was mentioned in the book that she lived on the Duke's estate and was one of the estate's staff. Hence, she was able to get close to Lady Melissa and manipulated her. So now, all she had to do was to avoid this marriage. Without this marriage, she wouldn't meet this vicious woman and thus she would be safe. Right, good plan so far. "My Lady, your presence is required in the drawing room." Lily suddenly appeared by her side while she was engrossed with her thoughts. "Reason?" Melissa asked Lily. "I was informed

Lord William Kensington was grinning ear to ear on the way back, holding the bag of cookies as if that was his most prized possession. Duke Kensington shook his head looking at his son, who looked so foolish with that silly smile on his face. "Do you like her that much? You've been smiling from the moment we left." Duke Kensington asked his son. "Yes! She baked the most delicious cookies. And she added extra chocolate chips, just for me! Will she come and live with us soon, Father?" Lord William enquired excitedly. He wished Lady Melissa could come back with him today itself but she's not married to his father yet. Thinking of how slow his father is, Lord William couldn't help but pout his lips. 'What a man, he can't even make her come and live with them sooner!' Looking at his son suddenly looking at him while pouting, Duke Kensington felt helpless. 'This boy is thinking of something for sure.' He had been hogging Lady Melissa all to himself during the time they were at the K

"Queen Grandma! You must make the wedding happen sooner, if not I might lose my new mother." Lord William said while running over to the Queen the moment he reached her inner chambers. Duke Kensington was following closely behind and bowed when he reached her. Queen Serina was puzzled. This little fireball was chattering non-stop about Lady Melissa the moment he saw her today. What's going on? She looked up with a questioning look at Duke Kensington, hoping he could explain. "Your Majesty, my son and I visited Lady Melissa few days ago. They became best friends." With just these two sentences, Queen Serina understood everything. She smiled while holding Lord William in her arms. "Do you like Lady Melissa, William?" She asked the young boy. "Yes, of course! She's so beautiful and kind. She even baked me cookies herself. She will be the best mother ever! Can she live with me anytime soon? Please Queen Grandma." Lord William asked with both his hands clasped together, begging the

"Oh, fancy meeting you here Your Grace. Are you buying arts supplies too?" Melissa acted calm and decided to ignore Duke Kensington's displeasure towards her. She could see through his eyes that he was disturbed by her sitting down on the floor like this. 'Who cares! I'm not your wife yet!' Ignoring her question, Duke Kensington asked, "Aren't you getting up?" "I'm not done yet." Melissa answered while continuing to choose her colours, completely ignoring her fiancé, who was obviously trying to get her attention. Duke Kensington looked at the young lady sitting on the floor and couldn't help but be amused at this scene. He wasn't particularly pleased with it but somehow he couldn't bring himself to reprimand her. She was so immersed with what she's doing, as if she's in her own world and he didn't want to disturb that. After standing there gazing at her for a few minutes, getting no response from her at all, Duke Kensington decided to move to a nearby bench and wait for her. Th