"The things you and Joshua can''t bring yourselves to do—I''ll do them. Isn''t that a win-win for everyone? I''m not asking for much. Just three months. Can''t you even give me that little bit of time?"


    Ste''s eyes widened, and she looked up at Leonard sharply. She knew that he hadn''t risen from being an illegitimate son with nothing to head of the family just by being ruthless. His intelligence was certainly not to be underestimated.


    Perhaps because he had always been at Aurora''s beck and call and had a penchant for violence, people had tended to overlook his intellect. Now, after spending just half a day with him, Ste clearly recognized how formidable he was. He had even sensed that she was in secret contact with Hand Lerman.


    His mind was so sharp. Sneaking a message to the outside world or escaping on her own would be nearly impossible.


    "Leonard," Ste said, "three months won''t necessarily change anything. You might end up with nothing."


    "It''s better to have had it for a moment than never at all," Leonard replied.


    Ste''s gaze grewplicated as she looked at him. She suddenly remembered her conversations with ''L''. She had always felt L''s pure, unadulterated passion for art. The reason she had always pictured L as a young woman was that there was a certain idealism in L''s way of thinking.


    Take her own love for the violin, for example. As much as she loved it, she couldn''t pursue it for passion alone, not without eating or earning a living. She just couldn''t do it. But L had always seemed so idealistic, able to pursue something purely for the love of it, without considering anything else.


    Because of this, Ste had always imagined L was some sheltered, naive heiress from a wealthy family, someone who had never known hardship or the harsh realities of the world.


    She never would have guessed that person was Leonard.


    As an illegitimate son, Leonard had certainly known suffering. While she had grown up with just her mother her life had beenfortable and financially secure. Her childhood had been far better than Leonard''s. Yet even so, she was not as idealistic as he was.


    He had brought her here, fully aware that three months was not nearly enough time


    to make her fall in love with him. It might not even be enough for her to forgive him. But he didn''t care.


    It was truly difficult to reason with someone like that.


    For the time being, Ste couldn''t find a solution. All she could do was try to remain calm. She couldn''t afford to panic; that would only ruin any chance she had.


    ***


    The ind had staff. Through


    conversations with the servants, Ste learned that all their food-vegetables, meat, and other supplies-was produced on-site. The


    ind had its own dedicated


    gardens and to..


    and did need


    to procure anything from the


    outside.


    To handle emergencies, the ind was even equipped with a


    professional doctor and an


    emergency room. All the servant et


    had signed one-year contracts


    During that year, they were not allowed to leave the ind or have anymunication devices to contact the outside world.


    Ste even found out that the staff had arrived on the ind a month ago. This meant Leonard''s n to kidnap her wasn''t a spur-of-the-moment decision; he had been thinking about it for a long time.


    The sky outside gradually darkened. The bright moonlight spread across the sea, casting a silvery glow on the water. The scenery was truly beautiful, but Ste was in no mood to appreciate it.


    For some reason, she suddenly missed Joshua terribly.


    That night, Ste did not sleep well. Although Leonard had said he wouldn''t force her, a promise was only real if the other person chose to keep it.