The Archduke's Songbird-Chapter 115: Suffocating Helplessness

Jessamyn noticed Jerrick’s eyes glowing with a murderous intent and the aura turned cold with the dark vibe of death.

She understood what he might have planned. He was not someone who would put trust in the legal system to try and bring her justice. He would avenge her in the way he might think she deserved.

"Do not touch her, please... It will amplify the scandal," she said.

Even if he suppressed the scandal, her mother-in-law’s death in a horrible way would still spark rumors. She was already considered a jinx for being born on the most inauspicious day in the kingdom.

Jerrick looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t see any expression on her face which was odd. He wanted to ask her if she wanted to still spare the mother of the man she loved, but he held his tongue.

She appeared calm in a situation where she couldn’t be calm. Something was terribly wrong with her. He knew she needed comfort and he was willing to offer her.

"Jessamyn, do you~"

"Alderic!" Jessamyn said remembering suddenly and walked out. She didn’t even wait to hold his outstretched hand.

Jerrick walked to her and held her hand. He didn’t find her behavior normal. He was scared for her and didn’t want to let go.

"Let’s get something to eat," he stopped her.

She turned to look at him, her eyes weary but clear. "I was attacked earlier and Alderic saved me. I asked something of him and I~"

"Do not protest, Jessamyn," he held her hand, rather closely.

Jessamyn tried to get out of his hold but he didn’t relent. In the end, she gave up. He took her to a restaurant and she followed him mindlessly. Her brain was blank. She didn’t know what to think anymore. Nothing was in her control.

She felt suffocating.

Jerrick didn’t peel his eyes off her. She looked like she might collapse at any moment. He tried to talk to her but she didn’t answer him. If she was going to bottle up her emotions, he didn’t know how to help her.

-----

In the Moonbeam Tavern, Isadora was having the time of her life. Bernard and she were playing a game and she didn’t even realize it had already become noon.

She looked at Bernard looking seriously to see where the dice landed at. Turned out, that guy had very little luck with the dice. Isadora didn’t think anyone could be that unlucky, but Bernard was.

Once again, the dice landed on an unfortunate face for him and Bernard let out a mumbled curse. Isadora giggled covering her mouth.

No matter how many times this happened, she noticed that Bernard was not giving up. He also tried to handle it patiently although she could see his muscle tense up as if he wanted to flip the table.

She could see that Bernard was a good guy who could hold his temper despite his appearance of a brute. That was a nice quality for a man to have.

Isadora threw the dice and she got the perfect one finishing the game. Bernard clapped and celebrated although his blue eyes held expectations to have at least one win.

Just as the game was finished, Bernard stood up, went to the fruit tray and offered her an apple. "Do you want to slice it?" he asked. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Isadora shook her head. Some time ago, he sliced a pineapple for her. She saw how proficient he was in handling the blade and was awed.

She would watch him slice anything for the rest of her life, but she wanted to do something in return.

"Bring me the apples and the knife," she said.

For some reason, Bernard was against the idea of letting her feet touch the ground and she got used to order him around for her needs. He complied rather willingly and with great joy.

Isadora’s heart warmed as she spent more time with Bernard. The more time she spent with him, the more she fell in love.

Bernard gave her the tray and sat by her side. His arms were grazing her shoulders. For some reason, he always sat touching her and she didn’t mind. At first, it was a little weird as her heart pounded by his closeness but she slowly got used to it.

Isadora peeled the skin, her focus intense as she tried to remove it in one go without breaking it. Bernard watched her, captivated by her concentration and precision.

He found her serious expression funny and blew in her ears to distract her. But she held on and finished peeling off the skin in one go.

"What did you do that for?" she hit his arm playfully.

Bernard chuckled.

She then sliced the apples and, midway, slapped her forehead with her hand, the knife still in her grasp. Bernard almost grabbed the sharp end of the knife to protect her from cutting herself, but she was careful enough not to hurt herself. He sighed in relief.

"You’re very careless," he said, trying to take the knife from her hand, but she held on to it.

"You worry for me?" Isadora asked with a hint of amusement in her voice. It was funny to see this burly man worrying about her just because she was holding a fruit knife.

But she got lost in his blue eyes.

Sold as a slave at age seven, she had been performing menial tasks and working with knives ever since. Peeling fruit was a basic skill for a household slave. No one had worried about her when she was a mere girl until her lady started to treat her differently, but now, as a grown woman, she had this handsome man fretting over something so trivial.

Superficially, it might be silly but Isadora was deeply touched.

Her face burned as she saw the concern on Bernard’s face as he looked at her and the knife. She blinked her eyes and turned her face away knowing if she stared at him anymore, it would happen again.

"What?" Bernard raised his brow seeing her pouting.

"I peeled all the skin off. I want to show off my skills of making bunny apples to you..." Isadora said with a pout.

Bernard leaned closer as if the distance between them was already too great. "You want to show me?" he leaned closer to her ears.

Isadora blushed and swatted him off like he was a fly. With a chuckle, Bernard sat straight, but the distance between them remained tight.

"Bunny apples?" Bernard was curious. "I’ve never seen them before...You show me a lot of new things, Isadora. I love it..."

The moment he said it, he watched Isadora’s face going red. Even the tips of her ears and nose went beet-red. He was amused by her reaction.

"I’ll show you... but..."

"But what?"

"What should I do with this?"

Isadora showed him the already-peeled apple. "We cannot waste this!"