Only I Know the War Hero’s Secret – Chapter 1

Author: isuzuuy

The large, thick-rimmed glasses that had been pressing down on the bridge of her nose were swiftly removed by a pair of elegant fingers.

“Found you.”

At the same time, a man’s fierce voice dropped over her head like the blade of a guillotine.

Mona Veloz swallowed hard as she met the dangerously gleaming eyes of the man before her, Richard Cronell.

‘I’m so screwed.’

The man’s eyes, which people often praised for looking like they held the blue waters of a summer sea, were now tinged red with madness.

At the same time, a warning signal flashed red in Mona’s mind.

“You. You’re the woman who ran off after sleeping with me that night, aren’t you?”

“I-I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about…”

As she instinctively took a step backward while pretending not to know anything, he stomped on her glasses with his military boot and strode closer.

Crack! The glasses shattered into pieces, and cold sweat trickled down her back as she felt they were a reflection of her own future.

“Hah. No wonder I couldn’t recognize you even when you were standing right in front of me. Who would have thought you’d wear such hideous glasses?”

“…I truly have no idea what Your Excellency is talking about.”

“You’re a terrible actress, yet you keep pretending you don’t know. Still going to deny it after this?”

At his gesture, her loose robe slipped down, revealing her right shoulder.

His gaze fixed on the distinctive cross-shaped scar on her shoulder. Then he let out a short laugh, baring his sharp canines.

“Do you think I’d forget this scar? It’s you. That pure-white woman from that night.”

She had been certain he had lost his reason that night, yet somehow, he still remembered this scar.

‘I’m dead.’

“Mona Veloz, you’re the type whose face gives everything away. You remember what happened that night, don’t you?”

“…”

At the man’s repeated mention of ‘that night,’ Mona unconsciously recalled what had happened and squeezed her eyes shut.

Scenes that had been indecently etched into her mind began swirling through her head.

It was shocking enough that she, a woman who had never even been in a relationship, had ended up having a one-night stand. But there was an even bigger problem.

That night, during their intimate encounter, Mona had seen something she absolutely should never have seen.

The war hero Richard Cronell’s secret, hidden from the world…

Something as hard as steel, yet chillingly cold…

“Your Excellency…! I’m truly sorry. I swear I will never breathe a word about what happened that night to anyone. I swear it on the Veloz family.”

As she desperately begged him, practically rubbing her hands raw, she tossed out the name of a family she was always ready to abandon as though it were a worthless promise.

He curled his lips slightly.

“Speak of it? So you wanted to brag to everyone about sharing a bed with me?”

“…Pardon?”

“Of course, I can understand the desire to show off the man you’ve had in your arms. I mean, it’s not as though I’m lacking in any way.”

What?

“However, you must keep quiet about the intimate and passionate things we did together that night, enough to practically destroy the bed. That’s only proper. It’s far too private, after all.”

He pressed Mona’s upper and lower lips together with his thumb and index finger.

“Don’t you agree?”

Of course I’ll keep quiet!

Mona nodded frantically in agreement, and he slowly withdrew his fingers from her lips.

Swallowing her trembling breath, Mona looked up at him with a glimmer of hope.

“Lord Richard, th-then, you’ll let what happened that night slide…?”

He raised one eyebrow as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Let it slide? You have to take responsibility.”

“…For what?”

She could barely take care of herself. What on earth was she supposed to take responsibility for?

“You took my first night. Naturally, you should take responsibility for that.”

“…?”