Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 67: #-The Crown’s Prince Confrontation!
Ethan tried to catch his breath.
The man managed to save Isabella and bring her to the river bank. He laid Isabella, who had fainted, on the grass carefully. Isabella’s face was so pale and her lips were slightly blue, a sign that the woman was cold right now. After taking a deep breath and combing his hair back with his fingers, Ethan lowered his head over Isabella’s body. His face was so close to hers and he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I’m doing this to save your life," Ethan said with a lazy tone. "So, don’t think anything weird when you wake up and don’t you dare beat me up and scream at everyone that I’m a pervert."
After saying those words to the unconscious woman and now realizing his stupidity, Ethan groaned and ruffled his wet hair. He immediately gave Isabella mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration. Seconds after he did, Isabella’s eyes widened. The woman coughed and spat out water from her mouth. She got up from her lying position and looked at Ethan with her red eyes.
"You..." Isabella couldn’t say anything yet. The woman still found it difficult to breathe. Her lungs ached terribly. Ethan just looked at Isabella with a flat look and was busy drying his wet hair using his hands. "What are you doing to me, Ethan Askary?!"
Ethan’s eyebrow shot up. "What did I do to you?" the man asked back while pointing at himself. "I saved your life that you threw into the river earlier."
"I didn’t kill myself! You made me jump into the river by suddenly appearing behind me like a criminal!"
"Ha!" Ethan snorted and laughed loudly. "So, now all of this is my fault, is that it?"
Isabella was silent and hugged herself. The woman knew that she fell into the river because of her own mistake and not because Ethan Askary appeared behind her. But still, she wants to blame others for her mistakes. She glanced at Ethan, who was already standing and seemed to be thinking. The wind that blew made Isabella’s body shiver even more and the woman clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Hearing Isabella’s voice, Ethan glanced at the woman. He took a deep breath and took off his outer clothes. Then, Ethan threw his clothes onto Isabella’s lap, making Isabella frown and looked up to stare at Ethan, who was currently only wearing a white shirt.
"Wear that so you don’t catch a cold," Ethan said. "I’ll be leaving now since I still have a business to attend to. You, go home."
When Ethan had walked away, Isabella widened her eyes. The woman stood up and ran to Ethan. Then, her right hand reached out and she grabbed the hem of Ethan’s shirt, making the man stop walking and turn his head. Behind him, Isabella lowered her head and looked away. Ethan raised an eyebrow as he saw Isabella’s ears turn red.
"Wait," Isabella said in a choked tone. The woman cleared her throat. "I... don’t want to go home."
"Huh?"
"I said I don’t want to go home!" yelled Isabella. She looked up, giving Ethan an annoyed look. Then, noticing that Ethan was staring back at her with a look Isabella couldn’t read, the woman flinched and looked down again. "I...."
Ethan took a deep breath and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Then, what do you want me to do?"
"Can you... can you take me to the palace?" she asked. "I want to meet the Crown Prince."
Ethan was silent. He looked at Isabella whose body was trembling even more from the cold. The man clicked his tongue in annoyance and justified the clothes he gave to Isabella. Receiving such treatment made Isabella freeze and subconsciously looked at Ethan. The distance between the two of them was so close that Isabella could see Ethan’s handsomeness and also feel Ethan’s warm breath. Then, suddenly the cold that Isabella had been feeling since earlier turned into heat. When Ethan’s eyes met hers, Isabella widened her eyes and immediately looked away.
"Before we go to the palace, I’ll take you to one of the boutiques nearby," Ethan said. "You should change your clothes so you don’t get sick."
Isabella nodded and followed Ethan from behind. She could hear Ethan grumbling and asking for the whereabouts of his sword which he threw before jumping into the river. The woman looked down and held her left chest.
Why is her heart beating so hard now?
###
Sebastian De Louis came to Edmund Gerwyn’s mansion without giving any prior notice.
It was already etiquette in the empire to do that thing before someone visited someone’s mansion. However, it seemed like Sebastian De Louis thought he could do whatever he pleased since he was the Crown Prince of this empire. He can go to any place without needing permission from anyone.
Sebastian comes to Edmund’s mansion after he hears from his shadow knight whom he assigned to spy on Penelope that the woman has a high fever. Sebastian got off the palace’ carriage with a smile and brought a bouquet of pink roses for Penelope. He was sure she would really like the gift.
"Your Highness?" Evan, who ran toward the door of the mansion after hearing from one of the maids that the Crown Prince had suddenly arrived, immediately cleared his throat and bowed. "Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince. May Elleia’s light always be with you."
He nodded. "I’m here to see Princess Penelope. I heard that the woman has a high fever. Is she okay?"
Evan frowned. Where did the Crown Prince know about Penelope Askary’s condition? In fact, no one even knew that Penelope was staying at the Duke’s mansion except for Duke Askary’s family. Apparently, what his master said was true. The Crown Prince put someone to watch Penelope Askary’s every move.
"Ah, yes. Princess Penelope is fine. She only had a fever from exhaustion. It is very common for women who are pregnant." Evan smiled. He purposely said ’pregnant woman’ to make the Crown Prince realize that it was pointless for the man to try to get close to the Duke’s woman.
Sebastian nodded. "I see. Then, I can see her, right?"
"Of course," Evan nodded. He couldn’t possibly forbid the Crown Prince from doing what the man wanted. "In that case, please wait a moment in Duke Edmund’s study, Your Highness. I will inform Duke Edmund and Princess Penelope that Your Highness is coming to visit."
Sebastian followed Evan while staring at the flower in his hand. He couldn’t wait to meet Penelope. He missed that woman. He wanted to be able to touch her body again. He wished he could smell Penelope’s sweet scent again. After waiting a few minutes in Edmund’s study, the door opened and Edmund appeared. Sebastian raised one eyebrow and grinned when he saw Edmund’s cold expression as well as the look in his eyes.
"What brings you here, Tian?" asked Edmund in a sharp tone. He sat across from Sebastian, who was drinking tea in his cup. Edmund’s eyes fell on the flower beside Sebastian and that anger immediately rose in his heart. Sebastian De Louis dared to come to his mansion to meet his woman and bring her flowers?!
"I heard Penelope was sick and she was here." Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to see her, Ed. I want to make sure she’s okay or not."
"Did you spy on Penny, Tian?" asked Edmund again.
Hearing Edmund call Penelope by her nickname made Sebastian freeze. He didn’t accept Edmund being able to call Penelope by a nickname when he wasn’t allowed to.
"What would you do if I did spy on that woman?" Sebastian asked back. He smirked. "I’m sure you’ve heard from Penelope about what happened at the boutique. Ed, let me tell you this. I really want that woman. I’m obsessed with her. I’m starting to love her. I want her to be mine. I want her to be my Empress."
Edmund frowned. His hands clenched tightly at his sides. "You’ve lost your mind," growled Edmund.
Sebastian laughed. His eyes looked scary, making Edmund unsure whether he recognized Sebastian De Louis in front of him or not. His grin also looks very dangerous.
"Yes! You’re right, Ed! I’m losing my mind because of Penelope Askary! I didn’t think I would love her like this when I used to hate her so much. I want her to be my Empress, not my concubine! She’s the only woman who deserves to be in that position, Ed!"
"What about Isabella Lysander?" growled Edmund. "Didn’t you love her so much that you always hurt Penny in the past and always ignored her?!"
"Isabella?" Sebastian snorted. He waved a hand. "I’m not interested in that woman anymore, Ed. She’s a boring woman. I will give her the position of concubine if she still really loves me and wants to marry me."
"You!" Edmund growled and pointed at Sebastian’s face. "I never thought you were a disgusting man, Sebastian De Louis!"
"You’re too much Ed," Sebastian laughed. "In this empire, it’s not uncommon for a man, let alone a nobleman, to have more than one wife. You also know that my grandfather used to have several concubines, right? Even the previous emperors had many concubines! Then, why can’t I have more than one wife?"
"And you think I’m going to let you take Penny away from me?!" shouted Edmund. "No way, Sebastian! She is mine!"
"I can have anything I want in this world, Edmund Gerwyn," Sebastian sneered. "And you won’t be able to stop me. Go ahead if you want to try but you will never succeed. Before you manage to marry Penelope Askary, I will kidnap her and lock her up in my palace. Even if you manage to marry her, I will snatch her from you and make her my Empress. There are many ways I can take that woman from you, Edmund. I can threaten her by saying that I will hurt her family if she dares to reject me."
Without Edmund and Sebastian noticing, someone standing at the door of Edmund’s study gulped. The man did not enter Edmund’s study and turned to the man beside him.
"Jeremy, is what I heard just now, true? You heard that too, right? The Crown Prince of this empire loves that cute little bunny and is obsessed with her. He wants to take that cute little bunny from Duke Edmund’s arms!" shouted Helios passionately.
Jeremy could only take a deep breath and cover his face with both hands.
"Your Highness, your current attitude is extremely presumptuous. You have deliberately overheard the two men’s conversation. If Her Highness the Empress finds out about this, you will make her faint."
"Shh! Shut up, Jeremy! Come on, let’s eavesdrop again!"
Jeremy groaned and was forced to follow his master’s orders. He even had to follow the orders of Helios Rune Abelavish, who wanted to secretly enter Edmund Gerwyn’s mansion by using his magic power.
