Escaping the Archduke of the North's Obsession

Isabella opened the door and entered the bedroom.

Surprised, Ignis flew next to her and cawed, “Isabella. What’s wrong with you? Your face looked so scary.”

Ignis asked nervously when he noticed that she wasn’t acting like herself.

Isabella went past Ignis and approached the window.

“Argh!”

Isabella screamed as soon as she opened the window.

She thought that she would be relieved of her anger by doing this.

Archduke Kyar didn’t seem to be the type to play with people’s feelings.

She didn’t understand how the Duke could change his mind quickly after telling her that she didn’t have to pay it back.

“Isabella, grades are not everything! Maybe he had done it because I had received poor results during the archery competition. It would be better if I calm down and breathe.”

It wasn’t unfair if she got a bad grade.

She felt bad for losing the first prize after holding it in her hands.

Isabella shouldn’t have been greedy in the first place.

She knew it was a mistake to give Duke Kyar the love potion, but she also had to take responsibility for it.

If he hadn’t told her that she didn’t have to pay them back in the first place, she wouldn’t have been this upset.

Isabella sat on the bed meditatively and  took a deep breath.

“It wasn’t mine in the first place.”

Ignis flew next to Isabella, who had her eyes closed, and asked, “Isabella, what are you doing?”

She ignored Ignis and focused more on her meditation.

“Let’s not covet anything that’s not mine,” Isabella said as she inhaled and exhaled.

Then, she opened her eyes and got up from the bed.

“No. When did I ask for it? I told him I’d pay him back! He said he didn’t need it. What’s wrong with him? If I had no expectations, then I shouldn’t be disappointed. It was the first time I came across this huge amount of money ever since I had arrived in this world. They don’t help. They don’t help.”

Ignis watched Isabella mutter and continue her breathing exercises, and spoke quietly, “Isabella, I think you have gone mad.”

“I don’t know. I have to finish creating the cure and leave this place as soon as possible. I can’t stand it anymore. I feel so cheap and dirty.”

Isabella’s eyes burned with tears as she sat in front of the desk.

Ignis bit his cheek and stared at Isabella’s back.

Her sad eyes lit up when she started reading a book about herbs.

**

Time had quickly passed by.

She only had ten days left before the promised date of the antidote.

Now, she only needed to find that one herb for the nervous system, but it wasn’t as easy as she thought.

Isabella became even more nervous after noticing that she only had a few of Duke Kyar’s books.

It was then that she found the herbs she was desperately looking for.

“I found it!”

Ignis was dozing off by the window, and his eyes suddenly opened upon hearing her squeal in excitement.

“Isabella! Did you find the last herb?”

“Yes, I finally found it.”

Honestly, she was very anxious to find the herb even after reading all those books.

Isabella hurriedly wrote the herb’s name on paper and jumped out of her chair.

“Ignis, I’ll be back.”

Isabella told Ignis excitedly and went out of the bedroom in a dash.

She ran towards Duke Kyar’s office while holding the piece of paper in her hand.

Isabella had just circled into the corner and bumped into Duke Kyar, who was about to visit her in her bedroom.

At the moment, Isabella faltered.

As soon as Duke Kyar retreated, he stretched an arm out and wrapped it around her back.

Isabella unconsciously hugged Duke Kyar’s rigid waist.

Next, she raised her head and gave him a puzzled look.

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know what it is, but you looked very excited when I saw you running around without looking at your path.”

“I finally found the last herb I need.”

Isabella handed him a paper, but she could visibly see his face tensing when his gaze landed on the herb’s name.

“Is that why you were so excited? The hug you just gave me right now was your last goodbye, wasn’t it?”

The hug was just a mistake, but now she had the freedom to say anything she wanted.

It felt like she had conquered the world.

“I don’t know if it’s a gift, but let’s just say it is—”

Before she finished speaking, his big hands wrapped around her small face.

A delicious warmth spread across her face when her skin got in contact with his hand.

Isabella couldn’t tell whether his hands were hot or her cheeks were.

He lowered his head to Isabella’s face and devoured her lips with his own.

The tongue, stirring inside her lips, was too hot to handle.

Their mixed breaths were shallow and rough.

Duke Kyar released her lip so that he could begin to suck her lower one.

“If we are talking about your last gift, I think it should be like this,” Duke whispered huskily in her ear.