CH 23

“Why are you here?”

Duke Kyar didn’t answer her question and just pulled the rope.

The bell rang loud and Mei, the maid, ran immediately to her room, wearing a face that indicated she had just woke up from her slumber.

“Call the clinic.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Surprised by the Archduke’s cold and stern countenance, Mei replied and hurried out of Isabella’s bedroom.

“Why are you calling the clinic? It’s just a nosebleed.”

Isabella asked in bewilderment as she clogged her nose with a handkerchief.

“You aren’t sleeping well these days.”

“I’m feeling excellent, Your Highness. By the way, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to go on an expedition to conquer the beasts?”

“It’s too dangerous for you to be there. Yet, I still wanted to see you, so I had no choice but to be here.”

Did he travel two hours from there so that he could see her?

Thinking that what Duke Kyar had done didn’t make any sense, Isabella stared at him in disapproval.

“I thought I could only sleep in comfort if I just see you for a moment.”

It seemed like the effects of the love potion did not weaken over time but had gotten stronger instead.

Isabella sighed inwardly when she realized he was becoming more obsessed with her.

“I’m here.”

The doctor opened her bedroom door just in time, and Duke Kyar said, “Take a look at Isabella. From that nosebleed, I  could tell that her body was fragile.”

“Yes.” The doctor replied at Archduke Kyar in a trembling voice as he nervously approached Isabella.

Isabella already said she was alright, but she trusted the doctor without a fuss because being stubborn and insistent wouldn’t work.

She couldn’t believe that she managed to get a nosebleed and have Duke Kyar call a doctor.

She couldn’t hide her embarrassment as the doctor examined her.

She already expected that her nosebleed would quickly stop before the doctor could even suggest that she apply a cold pack.

“There is nothing wrong with her aside from having a nosebleed—-”

“That can’t be. Does that mean that you can’t find the cause because your skills aren’t enough? Does it mean her nose just bled for no other reason?”

From Archduke Kyar’s words, sweat broke from the doctor’s forehead, and he was forced to recheck her complexion.

Isabella sighed when she somehow saw the doctor attempt to create a name for the disease.

“It was just a nosebleed—”

“You weren’t sleeping well these days. You seemed to have lost a lot of energy based on the dark shadows underneath your eyes and pale complexion.”

Isabella was about to speak and defend the doctor’s side, but she halted at his words, her eyes widening in shock.

The lawmaker avoided her gaze in chagrin and coughed inaudibly.

“Your Highness, I’m really fine.”

“If you keep doing this, I will demand that you burn those books down. These herbs. Everything!”

Duke Kyar pointed at the books she had studied about herbs and the ingredients for the precious antidote, and Isabella shut her mouth.

Isabella refused to be baited.

If she said one more thing, he might assume that she would immediately do what he said into practice, and that would make him think that his argument was valid.

“Every. Night. At. Ten. pm.” He gritted out, and Isabella’s eyes widened in apprehension because she couldn’t understand what Duke Kyar had meant.

“What?”

“You have to make sure that you sleep in that time.”

Nodding vigorously in agreement was the first thing she could do to match his mood.

Otherwise, it would be unfavorable for both of them if she could no longer study the antidote.

“I’ll have to check on you myself every day.”

“What? Your Highness, that’s a little—-”

Isabella’s lips pressed into a tight line when chills began to permeate from his body.

She had never fallen asleep at 10 p.m. in her previous life except when she was young.

Isabella swallowed a heavy sigh when she realized that he was determined that she live a good life.

**

Duke Kyar’s words were a little strict and sharp when he told her that he would come to her room every day to check up on her.

Despite being part of the beast-killing expedition, it would take Duke Kyar two days to cover that entire distance if he rode in his horse.

Isabella was compelled to lie in bed and sleep at 10 p.m.

Having no choice but to force herself to sleep because of Duke Kyar, who insisted on sitting on the chair next to her bed until she fell asleep, Isabella realized at that moment that she was stuck.

It wasn’t just that.

She had to drink this health tonic every day, and her hands couldn’t help but tremble whenever she saw the ultra-expensive herbs in her cup.

It was a potion that contained a herb that cost 10,000 gold coins.

Isabella felt so heartbroken every time she drank the medicine.

The cost of this herbal medicine could be used as capital to acquire a vast store.

She was so broke that she hadn’t even possessed a single gold coin, let alone 10,000 of them, but now, she was in perpetual disbelief for drinking this expensive potion every day.

Unfortunately, Isabella couldn’t return the precious herbs that had entered her stomach into money, and the knowledge made her shed tears.

Although, the good news was that her physical strength had improved day by day thanks to that.

She felt like she could beat a bear if she went hunting this instant.

In the meantime, two weeks had passed by like an arrow, and Duke Kyar told her in advance that Kyle would return to the North using the Teleport Tower.

“Do you remember making that promise with me?”

Kyle had visited her room and asked.

Isabella smiled and nodded in response.

Kyle decided about going out together the moment he arrived at the North.

She should be studying about the cure now that she is alright.

But she couldn’t ignore the fact that Kyle had visited the North just to see her and spent a large amount of money for it.

It appeared like the men from Kyar Family never felt sorry for spending a considerable amount of money at all.

“Shall we go to the market in the afternoon?”

Isabella asked, and Kyle smiled brightly in response.

“I like that. It would be good—-”

Come to think of it.

This would be the first time she would be visiting the market in Rubella Castle.

Strolling in Arpeon’s marketplace was quite fun, but she was also curious about the market in the north.

“—But today, the two of us are going out.” Kyle gazed at her earnestly, and Isabella thought that the child merely wanted to monopolize the time he spent with her.

Was it because he was growing up fast?

Isabella nodded slowly as she glanced at Kyle, who appeared to have grown in the last two weeks.

“Okay.”

“I’ll get permission from my uncle.”

She also liked it better if Duke Kyar wouldn’t go together with them.

Strangely enough, she became increasingly uncomfortable with Duke Kyar as the days went by.

It might be because of the persistent gaze he had on his face every time he looked at her.

She was worried about whether Kyar’s archipelago would allow Kyle to go out, but it appeared like asking for his permission was easier than she thought, regardless of what Kyle had done.

Isabella rode a carriage with Kyle, who appeared like he couldn’t contain all of his excitement when he returned, and they traveled to the market located on Triars Street.

The place felt quite different from Arpeon Market in the South, dominated by street vendors.

There were no street vendors on Triars’ Street at all, and she blamed it on the cold and volatile weather full of snow.

The stores had the same shape on both sides of the large, long-winding road, and they appeared very neat.

The pictures hanging on the store also had symbols in them.

No letters were written, but she could see what kind of store it was by looking at the picture.

“There’s a good place in here that bakes delicious cakes. Do you want to go there with me?”

Kyle asked, and Isabella nodded, her blue eyes sparkling.

Sweet food was always welcome.

She had never seen and tasted desserts since she had lived in the mountains for two years.

Her craving for sweets had intensified.

As she walked happily to the cake house with Kyle, she suddenly noticed a post at the center on the Triars Street bulletin board.

“Young master Kyle. Hold on a second.”

A written announcement in bold capital letters said “Arrow Shooting Competition” caught her eye.