“What is?” Liliette asked, frustration tightening her chest as if she had swallowed a handful of flour.
“My appearance. As you can see, I am grotesque, too hideous to be seen,” he said matter-of-factly.
“What?” she exclaimed, barely holding back a sharp retort. Was he toying with her? Was this just another way to mock her? To her surprise, however, he seemed completely sincere. His expression was so emotionless it bordered on inhuman, yet she caught a slight crack in his stoic façade. As he ran a hand through his hair, revealing and then obscuring his masculine forehead, he looked genuinely uncomfortable.
“I look just like my mother, don’t I?” he asked.
“What do you…?” Liliette began, bewildered. How could she possibly know what the Duke’s mother looked like?
Vlad seemed taken aback by her reaction. He let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping. “I assumed you would know…”
