Chapter 280

"Thanks."

Lady Melissa silently said, her voice barely being heard due to the wind, though it was just loud enough for Duke Gaston to thankfully hear it.

"You can show me your sincerity by calling me using my first name."

Duke Gaston said, as he used his right arm, to touch Lady Melissa's face, as she flinched a little as she felt how cold his fingers were, though her gaze never averted from his.

It was a good thing that they sat near the entrance of the cave, meaning that there was a lot of moonlight that would allow each of them to see each other's faces and vice versa.

"I- er-"

Lady Melissa said, her words becoming a mess as her brain was malfunctioning, not being able to process the fact that they were holding hands, even if it was just because she was cold.

"G-gaston."

Lady Melissa said, a blush on her face as she tried to hide it though it was clear as ever to Duke Gaston that she was blushing since she wasn't exactly the best at hiding her blush in front of him.

"Good, though do I have permission to call you Melissa as well? To make it fair."

Duke Gaston said, as she could feel that her heart was literally going to burst any moment right now if Duke Gaston kept doing this, his voice was just so….hard for her to resist, and she was sure that the very moment she'd look at his face was the very same moment that she would give in to his request.

She was right, she had ended up looking at Duke Gaston, just for a few seconds- but those very same few seconds were more than enough for her to say 'yes' to Duke Gaston's request, as she let out a sigh.

"Are you alright?"

Duke Gaston asked, his voice filled with concern, as the earlier tone he had used on Lady Melissa had quickly disappeared when he had noticed how much she was shivering.

"I-i'm fine."

Lady Melissa said, although it was very obvious that she wasn't fine at all based on how she was even reacting to the cold, even when she and the Duke were holding hands.

"Come here."

Duke Gaston said, as he gently brought Lady Melissa's body towards his lap, before fixing her body so that her head would lay on his chest, hoping that she'd feel more comfortable.

"What happens if someone walks in?"

Lady Melissa asked, still concerned just in case someone was to walk in on the two of them like this, even though she probably should've focused on getting her body warmer first.

"Do you think that somebody's gonna walk in right now? I'm pretty sure it's been over midnight."

Duke Gaston said as he caressed the woman's hair, playing with it in the process.

"Should we do shifts?"

Lady Melissa suggested the man, as he considered it for a few minutes before replying with a 'no'.

"Yes, I'll do the first three-four hours and you can do the next one-two hours."

Duke Gaston said as Lady Melissa was ready to protest against him this time, last time she wasn't able to do so because the man had already gone deep into the forest and she wasn't able to get back to him or anything.

"What if you did three hours and I did three hours? I'm sure you need sleep as well."

Lady Melissa said, however, her protests had fallen deaf to the man's ears almost as if he couldn't hear them, or he was too stubborn to share all the shift times with the woman right in front of him.

Why? She didn't know, though she'd certainly feel bad if she got more sleep than Duke Gaston after all the trouble that she had managed to drag him into today.

"No."

Duke Gaston said as Lady Melissa felt speechless.

"Gaston, please?"

Lady Melisssa asked, hoping that her trick of using his first name would end up working, even though she didn't have high expectations of it.

However, contrary to her beliefs- it had actually worked, as Duke Gaston let out a sigh, giving in to her requests.

"Fine, we can do three hours each, however, we don't do more than that alright? If I catch you doing more than 3 hours I'm gonna punish you."

Duke Gaston said as Lady Melissa said the same thing, her heart still racing as her head was still on his chest.

Lady Melissa could practically feel every single breath of air that the Duke would get, his chest rising up each and every single time it was inhaling oxygen.

"Goodnight Melissa."

Duke Gaston said, as he continuously played with Lady Melissa's hair.

"Goodnight Gaston."

Lady Melissa replied back to him, as she closed her eyes, as she soon disappeared into the land of dreams.

Lady Melissa soon awoke, for no particular reason, as she spent the next few minutes trying to adjust the lighting of the cave, as it looked like it was still early morning, meaning that she had luckily hadn't slept through her shift and made Duke Gaston take care of everything.

Speaking of Duke Gaston, she could see the man sitting near the entrance of the cave, as she approached him, trying to sneak in some attack, though she knew that it would fail.

After all, he was one of the main generals of the imperial army for a reason, and certainly, his skills were one of those reasons.

Lady Melissa hadn't had any sort of nightmares earlier on when she was sleeping, maybe it was because she had slept on Duke Gaston's chest, but whatever the reason it was, today had been a pretty pleasant day for her, other than the fact that they had been kidnapped prior to this just a few hours ago- or at least Lady Melisssa had been kidnapped just a few hours ago.

Lady Melissa stretched her body, her body making multiple cracks a number of times, as she felt much more energized and awake than earlier.