I Became the Duke in a Cringey Romance Novel

05 - Green-Eyed Aurora

The brown-haired girl hurls me into a small custodial closet down the hall, then closes the door behind her. A string hangs from the ceiling, which she tugs to turn on a lightbulb, illuminating the small room. A broom and dustpan, mop, bucket, and feather duster, among other cleaning things crowd the tiny closet and force us closer together.

She isn't remotely attractive, yet my heart is pounding in my chest at how close we're standing together.

Seconds pass by, and the air quickly becomes stuffy. Never have I ever been shoved into a closet with a girl before, cute or non.

In a quick movement, she whips her head up, her nose uppercutting my chin and sending me back into the wall. At her glare, I gulp. She doesn't seem to want to take advantage of whatever situation she put us in, so what could she want from me?

She... she knows my name. Did she embroider that serial killer handkerchief? I squint at her in the dim light.

"You really don't play the duke well, David. I overestimated you. You've disappointed me."

I don't know how to react to her strangely cold accusation. I've... disappointed her? Who is she? And why is she—

With lightning speed, she seems to suck the air from the space between us, almost making us touch. A broom handle slides between my legs as I melt into the wall in retreat.

Jade gems watch me in the yellow light.

"Who... are you?" I stammer out, all-too-coward-like. Damn my introverted, shy genes. This situation is like none I've ever dealt with, not even with my short-lived relationships in high school. My body, limbs, and mind are malfunctioning. How does man engage in conversation when woman is so close?

"Who else would know your name, know the role you've been selected to play? Who else would break the fourth wall like this?" As she speaks, she lifts a finger under my jaw, turning my head from side to side. A smirk curves into her cheeks, her expression under the light making her quite fox-like. "You look divine, I must say. An improvement from your... sad image from before."

Normally, such an insult would result in a shrug and I'd probably cry in my room later, when I'm alone. But Duke Theo isn't about to let it slide, and I am instantly trumped by the influence he has over my arms as I grab hold of her hand, twist it around, and pin her to the wall like a police officer arresting a criminal. Of course the cold duke won't allow such treasonous language to be directed at him, to his face, no less.

The actions are his, but the words that come out are my own.

"I was rather... happy with who I was before, thank you very much. Now tell me who the hell you are or I'll let Duke Theodore take out his wrath on you for trapping him in a damned broom closet to threaten him at his own party."

"Okay," she says, without any strain. Her pulse, which thumps under the wrist I'm pressing to her back, remains normal. I haven't caught her off-guard. She's perfectly fine.

Deduction: she is not from this novel world. Well, I guess that much is obvious if she knows my name is David, and she knows what I look... er, looked like.

She easily turns around when I loosen my grip. And we are once again standing very close.

"Some things cannot be explained, including how we got here. However, I can tell you for certain that we are both here because we wanted to be."

"Nope, definitely bullshit. I'm not even into reading, let alone romance and all that crap. Do you even know what I've been put through this past week? Shit, has it only been a week?"