CH 82.1

She mistook him for her lover again.

Duke Kyar could tell from her face that she was looking at her beloved through his image.

It irritated the f*ck out of him.

“I missed you. I really missed you a lot.”

This wicked impulse soared every time he saw her pink lips announce their intense longing for that man.

After laying Isabella down on the bed, Duke Kyar gave her cheek a gentle caress.

“Yes.  I missed you a lot, too, Isabella.”

Her beautiful blue eyes had shed tears when she heard him say those words.

Duke Kyar had no idea what had gotten into his mind when he pretended to be her lover, even briefly.

As he erased the distance between their bodies, he brought his face closer to hers until their breaths met.

He initially intended to stop right there, shake her off as planned, stand up, and get away from the bed.

Unfortunately, her body wouldn’t listen to him.

Duke Kyar felt thirsty again, and it was only quenched when her soft lips touched his.

The thin cord of logic that he barely held on to had snapped when he kissed her back with arduous passion.

When Duke Kyar pushed her down the bed and wrapped the strands of her silver hair around his large hand, Isabella’s blue eyes widened in shock as if she just had woken up from her dream.

He didn’t want to let go.

Never.

His tongue entered her parted lips, and it danced around hers, curling against each other.

Duke Kyar knew that she was wet with desire, and he was soaking in it.

Yet, his thirst didn’t disappear.

The more he coveted the taste of her lips, the greater his thirst became.

It was out of his control.

For the first time in his life, he had this intense urge to make love to a woman all night long.

Duke Kyar tried to keep himself in check, but he still didn’t want to let go.

Will the flames of lust burning inside him disappear if he did it?

He tried to push his carnal desires out of his head, yet he struggled to release her lips from their passionate kiss.

When Duke Kyar glanced down at her, her blue eyes did not hold the same affection as before.

This time, she looked confused.

The sight was too painful that it felt like someone had stabbed him with a knife, and it repeatedly twisted his stomach.

“I warned you, Isabella. Don’t mistake me for him again.” His hands shook from his anguish and contempt.

Still, he managed to let her go and returned to his bed as if nothing monumental had happened.

He laid in it and covered his eyes with an arm.

He was a madman.

He had gone insane.

It was a crazy thing to do.

He had never felt so frustrated with his jealous and lustful behavior that cursing himself would be a waste of time.

**

Isabella examined Duke Kyar as he tossed and turned in his bed.

Did he have a hard time sleeping?

What the hell just happened?

After a long time, she finally had a dream about the past, but she mistook His Highness for who he used to be.

Isabella thought she had dreamed about that kiss they shared earlier, but it was real.

Blinking lazily, Isabella touched her lips that had swelled from that rough, torrid kiss.

His Highness’ passion for her felt so real that it made her blush.

Was it safe for her to assume that the Archduke thought of her as a woman?

Isabella’s heart and mind pounded in anticipation.

Maybe it’s just a physical attraction on his part.

They might not have laid in the same bed, but the Archduke could have acquired lustful thoughts after staying in the same space every night.

She was close within his reach, after all.

‘I shouldn’t expect too much.’ Isabella thought as she tried to calm her beating heart.

She still hoped that he finally started seeing her as a woman.

Nevertheless, she should try not to get ahead of herself.

Even if the Archduke had drank the love potion in the past, he wasn’t a man who acknowledged his feelings quickly.

He usually tells her that he loves her but wouldn’t forget to add, “Don’t misunderstand me. This is all because of the love potion.”

He might shut the door on her if she approached him in haste after opening his mind to her little by little.

Isabella smiled at the thought of this man who wasn’t aware of his emotions.

She should approach him slowly so that he would not be surprised.

Unfortunately, the idea turned useless when His Highness began to avoid her.

He changed into his uniform and went to the dark forest at dawn.

Then, he would return to the barracks late at night.

He would fall to the bed, sleeping his exhaustion away, and then wake up, sobbing, early in the morning.

He would calm down after she embraced him and patted his back.

Then, he would get out of the barracks and go straight to the dark forest.

He didn’t even give her a chance to talk to him.

The situation went on until they returned to the castle after finishing the beast hunting expedition.

Of course, that wasn’t the end.

“What?”

Bewildered, Isabella asked the butler because she couldn’t understand what went wrong.

“They say you don’t have to come to His Highness’ bedroom starting today.”

“If Duke Kyar wakes up—”

“You can wait in front of his bedroom door at six in the morning. If His Highness wakes up before that time, a servant will come to pick you up, so don’t worry too much.”

Why is Duke Kyar doing this?

“Perhaps, he didn’t like the strange rumors circulating about you and him.”

“Strange rumors?”

“You don’t have to know about that. All we have to do is follow His Highness’ instructions.”

As his servant, Isabella knew that she had no choice but to follow the Archduke’s orders even if she was upset by his behavior.

**