CH 31.1

She liked it.

She liked it too much.

That was the problem.

Isabella sighed inwardly as she looked into the documents.

She wanted to ask him if he thought her heart could be bought with money and shout it out, but she guessed that would be too arrogant.

Isabella got this gift on the condition that she’d stay in this castle for a year.

It was her right to be deprived of freedom.

Is it going to be alright?

Isabella shook her head at the snobbish thought that had risen from her mind.

It was just too burdensome to receive it.

Her greed and conscience fought fiercely in her heart, but she already knew which would win.

Her arms hugged the documents Marc gave her.

Her conscience was annihilated.

**

As he scanned through the documents, Duke Kyar raised his head when he heard a knock at his office door.

“I have talked to the lady.”

Marc said as he opened the door, let himself in, and greeted him with a bow.

“Did she like it?”

He was curious about Isabella’s reaction that he couldn’t focus properly on his work.

“She seemed a little burdened, but she liked it.”

“That’s a relief.”

Isabella must have blushed upon receiving the documents Mark gave her.

He wanted to see her in person, but he didn’t want to make her feel burdened, so he deliberately entrusted Marc to deliver the documents.

However, he found it regretful that he couldn’t see her face.

“But are you okay?” Marc asked, and Duke Kyar slightly raised one eyebrow.

“What?”

“I heard you took the antidote, Your Highness. I asked because I was worried  that it wasn’t effective.”

“The antidote worked very well, but I haven’t changed my mind.”

His feelings for her became more evident.

Duke Kyar realized that drinking the antidote wouldn’t change much.

He gave her his heart for the first time because of the love potion.

However, Duke Kyar was confident that with or without drinking the antidote, his heart would always belong to her.

Admitting his feelings instead of simply denying them and blaming them on the love potion made him feel more comfortable.

Now that this had happened, he didn’t want to let her go.

He heard another knock on the door.

“Come on in.” He answered, and the door opened

.As soon as he saw Isabella enter his office, a light smile spread across his face.

“I have something to tell you,” Isabella said after reading the atmosphere.

Duke Kyar winked at Marc as a signal to make himself scarce.

Mark caught on and swiftly went out of the office.

“You can tell me whatever you want.”

There was nothing more important to him than what she said.

“I pondered a lot about it. Honestly, I just thought about accepting such a generous offer with my eyes closed, but I don’t think it’s right. Yet,  rejecting your proposal would be such a great waste.”

He enjoyed watching how the color of her face and her expression changed.

Seeing her face with a clear mind made her look prettier compared to the time when the love potion had taken effect.

“Honestly, it’s a perfect gift, but it’s too much for me to accept it.”

“I want to make you feel burdened.” He said calmly, and her blue eyes grew big.

“What?” She shot back, blushing.

Staring at her, he said. “Even if you find it burdensome, at least you were thinking about it..”

A smile flowed through her lips.

He could simply tell what she thought by looking at her expression with his clear mind.

She was a woman who wore her heart on her sleeve.

It was something he didn’t know when he drank the love potion.

His thoughts were too murky, and his heart pounded so hard it made him dizzy.

“Your Highness.”

“Just take it even if you feel like it’s too much. It’s only right that you receive it.”

It’s hard to persuade him to withdraw it.

Well, maybe she was reading too much into it.

Isabella sighed quietly.

“Then how about this? No matter how much I think about it, I just don’t get it. I think we should share the profits earned through the research institute. I will be six, and Your Highness will have 4–”

She paused and looked around her surroundings, shaking her head.

“No, let’s have a share of 5 and 5. I’ll make a lot of money for you.”

She said confidently, and Duke Kyar suppressed a laugh.

He had felt it for a long time, but it appeared like she had said everything she had to say deep down.