Chapter 98.1

“–Bella! Isabella!” Ignis’ voice in Isabella’s ear woke her up.

When she opened her eyes, Ignis was sitting on the bedside table, looking down at her.

“Eh? Ignis! How did you get in here?”

How did Ignis manage to get inside when the bedroom window was closed?

Aside from that, since when had she fallen asleep?

Isabella lifted her blankets quickly to check if she was naked underneath but instead, she gave her body a blank stare when she realized she had worn the exact same clothes she had put on when she exited the bathroom last night.

She barely drank more than two glasses of wine.

Hadn’t she done anything after that?

Was she able to touch Duke Kyar’s glorious form?

“You crazy, crazy girl!” Isabella murmured, dragging her fingers through her hair.

“You really had gone mad, Isabella! Why are you acting this way so early in the morning!” Ignis nagged while flapping his wings.

The firebird had no idea what she was going through right now.

As Ignis continued to chirp in one ear, Isabella glanced around but there was no sign of Duke Kyar anywhere in the room.

“What about the Archduke? Do you know where he is?”

“How would I know his whereabouts? He wasn’t here when I woke up from my nap in the garden! I’ve been keeping my guard all night to watch over you and that insidious Duke. Do you have any idea know how exhausted I am? How can you sleep alone while snoring fearlessly in the presence of that man?”

Isabella’s despair intensified when Ignis mentioned that she had snored in front of the Archduke.

She didn’t get enough sleep before she got drunk so maybe, that was the reason why she snored.

What did Duke Kyar think when he heard her?

Isabella closed her eyes and tried to imagine it.

“It’s crazy.” She exhaled a heavy sigh and her bedroom door suddenly opened.

When she turned her head in that direction, she saw Duke Kyar in his tunic and his dark hair was slightly wet with sweat.

Did he start working out early in the morning?

“You’re awake now.” He spoke curtly as he stared at Isabella, who was blushing in chagrin.

Duke Kyar must have been hurt by her actions last night.

If she was in his shoes, she would have been angry at her too.

How absurd it must have been for him to see her sleep after drinking two glasses of wine.

“Your Grace.”

“I jogged around the garden a few times. I have a lot of stamina.”

Isabella grimaced when she heard him emphasize the word ‘stamina’.

“I’m so sorry, Your Highness.” She looked at him with sincerity. “I really didn’t expect that I would fall asleep  after drinking two glasses of wine.”

She used to be quite tolerant of alcohol in her past life.

Isabella wasn’t an alcoholic but she was aware that she wouldn’t really get drunk easily if she was forced to.

She thought this body would feel the same page.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

She had never tried drinking alcohol in Isabella’s body, but she didn’t think it would be this weak.

If Isabella had known, she wouldn’t have drunk wine in the first place.

It was a shame that her first night with the Archduke had gone to waste.

Well, it’s not like that was the only opportunity she had with him.

Both of them will return to Rubella Castle tomorrow morning, so perhaps, tonight…

“It’s alright. Come to think of it. I think it is a waste to spend our first night like that.”

Yes.

It was such a waste.

It was driving her insane to make such a stupid mistake.

It just broke her heart that she didn’t even touch him once last night.

Isabella swallowed hard as she watched him untie the strings at his waist.

His tunic was slightly open, revealing such firm muscles on his chest.

She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“Tonight, I’ll never sleep—”

“I will keep my chastity until the day we get married.”

“WHAT?”

Isabella’s pupils trembled at the unexpected declaration.

Reaching out to caress her disheveled silver hair, Duke Kyar clarified,  “I’ll be looking forward to our first night together as a married couple.”

“Oh, no! Why, Your Grace? Why did you change your mind all of a sudden?”

The idea was rubbish.

Isabella just couldn’t understand why he wanted this.

She recalled how the Archduke had watched her last night, acting like a predator who wanted to eat her alive.

His heart did a full one-eighty degree in the blink of an eye.

“It will be hard for the both of us but I think we can manage. Our first night will be much more special if we endure and keep it that way.”

His large hand caressing her hair descended towards her earlobe.

Warmth flushed her cheeks when she realized how that mesmerizing touch had put her under a spell.

Isabella’s eyes widened when she noticed she was acting strange again.

“I’m sweating a lot so I have to wash up. The caretaker and his wife had already prepared our breakfast so you can go down and eat first. I’ll catch up later.”

Isabella looked at his back regretfully as he went into the bathroom with a towel in hand.

Ignis clicked his tongue. “You are about to drool, Isabella! How can you not resist temptation?”

She was in a daze that she couldn’t hear Ignis’s complaints anymore.

What made him change his mind?

**

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