CH 78.1

Isabella was slightly perplexed, and she nodded.

“Why do you–”

Duke Kyar paused and swept his black hair nervously to the side.

“No. I have no idea why I wanted to ask you this.”

Neither did she understand why he was like this.

She heard from Marc that Duke Kyar’s nerves seemed sharper than usual.

Isabella quickly rose from the sofa when she recalled Marc telling her that the Archduke probably had a headache again.

“Are you ill, Your Highness? Should I bring a natural painkiller for you?” Isabella asked as she moved closer to the bed.

She looked at his handsome face with concern, and Duke Kyar didn’t bother answering her.

He kept his mouth shut.

When Isabella noticed that his cheekbones were flushed, she touched his forehead.  “Do you have a fever?”

Duke Kyar clutched her hand to stop her before her fingertips could caress his skin.

“I’m warning you, Isabella. You shouldn’t look at me like that.” Duke Kyar said coldly. “The way you look at me makes me angry.”

She could tell from his scowl that he genuinely meant it.

Isabella lowered her head to avoid his cool gaze.

When Duke Kyar finally released her hand, her heart sank at the same time it fell.

Isabella was far from being loved because the Archduke hated her.

Perhaps, this was her divine punishment for taking his love for granted.

Isabella clutched the fabric of her skirts and tried not to expose how wounded she felt from his rejection.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have intervened when you didn’t need me. Sleep tight, Your Highness.” Isabella said as she returned to her sofa.

She could still sense that the Archduke was watching her back, but she had no guts to look over her shoulder.

Isabella recalled the moment he told her that her eyes irritated him, and she tried to pick up a book to distract herself calmly.

Duke Kyar swept his hair nervously to the side as he examined Isabella’s profile.

For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he said that.

No, Duke Kuar knew after discovering that the person she loved looked like him.

His heart started racing every time their eyes met, but the longing gaze in those blue depths made him strangely angry.

It felt like Isabella was looking at someone else every time she stared at him.

Not him.

The Archduke.

Was he treating him as a substitute?

Duke Kyar wasn’t the man he loved.

For days, he tried to stop the urge from grabbing and shaking her slender shoulders until she told him the truth.

Unfortunately, today was the day he finally snapped.

He couldn’t understand his behavior when he had only been around this woman for about a week.

No.

The source of Duke Kyar’s problem was her gaze.

It kept tugging at his heartstrings, but he was determined not to be a substitute for another man.

Her blue eyes had bothered him since the day he met her the first time during his training in the mountains.

Perhaps, this was better.

He shouldn’t meet her eyes so that he wouldn’t feel this kind of excitement.

Duke Kyar clenched his teeth in frustration when he remembered Isabella’s unconditional love for the man who looked like him.

**

Ignis placed his wings over his ears after hearing Isabella sigh a thousand times that it had turned into a habit.

“How many times have you sighed already, Isabella? I’m sick of it!”

“Sorry. I’m so depressed.” Isabella muttered and lowered her head.

Ignis clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Didn’t I tell you to make the love potion and coax the Archduke to drink it? It’s not that hard, Isabella!” Ignis nagged at her out of pity.

Isabella looked at the firebird with a tearful gaze.

Ignis fluttered his wings and shouted before she could even respond. “I know! I know! You promised not to take that medicine again! I’m just saying it because I’m tired of seeing you act like this.”

“I know how much you worry about me, Ignis!”

“Well, that’s all you need to know!” Ignis answered.

Isabella gave him a small smile.

Talking to Ignis soothed her depression.

When Isabelle heard a knock on the door, she rose from her chair and opened it.

“Isabella, the butler is looking for you.” Jake, who worked under Marc, said.

Isabella nodded hastily.

“Yes. Please tell him I’ll be right there.”

“Yes.”

She closed the door and packed some medicine she had made for Marc’s fatigue.