Chapter 101.2

“Ignis, have you been there yet?” Isabella asked urgently.

Ignis lowered his head and replied weakly, “Sorry, I couldn’t enter the dark forest, Isabella.”

Isabella looked perplexed.

“You know that fire and ice are poles apart.  Yet, there was a strong aura of gloom and doom around it. Dark energy surrounded the place, but Duke Kyar’s power of ice was so strong that the haze couldn’t reach the forest! He seemed perfectly fine anyway, so don’t worry!”

Isabella felt a little empty, but she was relieved that Duke Kyar was safe.

“Are you saying that the cold air the Archduke had breathed out overwhelmed the dark energy?”

“That’s right! The chills were so terrible that you didn’t even have to worry about his safety! Duke Kyar is a dangerous man!”

Ignis shivered, getting goosebumps just thinking about all that ice.

“Thank you, Ignis. You did a great job.”

“Well, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I didn’t go near him because I was scared.”

Ignis might have his pride hurt a little bit because he couldn’t enter the dark forest.

Smiling faintly, Isabella nodded.

She was glad that she could confirm Duke Kyar’s safety like this.

She could do nothing except fervently wish that nothing dangerous had happened to him.

Isabella wished she could have something she could use to talk to him anytime.

At that moment, she had missed possessing a communication bracelet which she had once considered a nuisance in the past.

**

Shaking her head in denial, Isabella burst into tears when she witnessed Duke Kyar get stabbed in the heart with an ice pick.

“No! Oh, no!”

His weak figure was sprawled on the floor.

Isabella wanted to approach him, but she couldn’t move her limbs.

“No, please! Please!”

Her cries grew louder and more desperate.

“Isabella! Wake up, Isabella!”

Upon hearing Duke Kyar’s voice in her ears, Isabella opened her eyes.

Was this a dream or reality?

She reached out to him urgently so that she could see his face.

Isabella quickly settled her palm over his heart to check if it was still beating.

It wasn’t a dream.

Duke Kyar was really in front of her.

Isabella watched him tearfully.

“Are you sure there is going to be war?” Her voice trembled when she asked.

He nodded slowly. “Yes. I have to be there, Isabella.”

“I had a scary dream. It’s terrifying—”

Isabella had a dream of the day she didn’t want to remember.

The tears did not stop streaming down her face when that particular memory turned into her greatest nightmare.

“Isabella.” He called her name in a slightly subdued voice while wiping her tears with callused hands.

“Was he in your dream?” Duke Kyar asked quietly.

He looked a little sad.

“I do have an idea. But who are you thinking of when you look at me like that?”

Isabella’s pupils trembled as well as her voice. “Your Highness, I—”

“That man is already dead, Isabella. There’s nothing we can do. I’m not like him.” He continued as he stared at her with an unwavering gaze. “I’m stronger than anyone else, and I promise I will never die before you. I’ll live a day longer than you, trust me. I won’t leave you like him.”

His reassuring words eased the tremors in her body.

Isabella wanted to hear that from him more than anything else.

If she went through such a thing again, she would probably go insane.

She never wanted to witness his death the second time around.

“So don’t be anxious. Don’t be afraid, and don’t worry about me anymore.”

Isabella nodded and smiled.

“You promised  that you would never leave me alone.”

“Yes, I swear.”

He drew her vulnerable form into his embrace and gently patted her back as the pounding of his heartbeat in her ears calmed her even more.

What would happen to the Archduke now if this wasn’t a dream?

“Your Highness, why are you still here?”

Isabella looked up at him in surprise.

It was still dark outside the window, so she assumed it must have been dawn.

Did he return to Rubella Castle at dawn to see her?

He smirked as he watched her blink slowly in a daze.

“I got here so fast because I  forgot to give you something.” He told her as he grabbed her wrist and lifted it.

The turquoise jewel on the center of the bracelet caught her attention.

Isabella’s eyes widened in shock.

This bracelet must be—

Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 40 chapters in advance!