The Archduke's Songbird-Chapter 153: He Surprised Her

Carefully, Jessamyn tried to shift, not wanting to wake him but needing to adjust her position. As she moved, Jerrick mumbled something incoherent and tightened his grip momentarily before relaxing again. His arm around her waist was firm yet tender, and his eyebrows were knitted.

She felt a pang of something—affection, perhaps?—as she gently traced her finger between his eyebrows.

"Jerrick," she whispered softly, testing to see if he would wake. He didn’t stir, his breathing deep and even.

With a sigh, Jessamyn decided to let herself relax. There would be time for questions and doubts later. For now, she allowed herself to sink back into the warmth of his embrace, the strange sense of security he provided wrapping around her as surely as his arms.

Without knowing, she started to caress his hair. It was fluffy and silky smooth to the touch; relaxing. The soft sensation of his hair lulled her back to sleep.

She almost fell back asleep when she heard a rustling noise near the opening of the hollow tree they were in. There wasn’t much light outside as the light of the breaking dawn was obscured by the trees.

When she looked closer, she heard the sound of twigs snapping. Her heart skipped a beat seeing a dark figure crossing the opening. She unconsciously clutched Jerrick’s hair and looked for her crossbow. She couldn’t see it anywhere near her.

She observed the dark figure closely as it approached the opening once more. This time, it stopped and tried to get in.

A bear!

"Jerrick," she pulled his hair to wake him up.

"Mmm..." Jerrick groaned and the next second began kissing her chest.

"Jerrick, bear!" She pulled his hair and hit his back to awaken him, but he was keen on kissing her. His hold around her tightened and his kisses intensified.

"There’s a bear outside!" she whispered loudly.

He was letting out guttural grunts and she felt his excitement on her as he started sucking on her breasts.

"Jerrick!"

Jessamyn had to resort to kicking him in his abdomen to awaken him. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Jerrick jolted awake, his eyes wide with surprise. "What?" he muttered, blinking rapidly as he looked around. "A bear?"

"Yes, a bear!" she hissed, pointing toward the opening where the bear’s dark shape was now clearly visible.

The bear was still outside, sniffing the air and inching closer. Jessamyn grabbed the rolled fur coat, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. She might have gone insane out of fear, but she was sure she saw the bear meeting eyes with her.

Jerrick let out a grunt of displeasure and turned, supporting his elbows on his cheek. Jessamyn tried to get up, but he pulled her closer and looked at the bear. Every action of his seemed so leisurely as if he didn’t care about the gravity of the situation they were in.

"Where is my crossbow?" she hissed. "And where is your sword?" She could only grit her teeth as he looked too sluggish, not what she expected of a warrior.

Jerrick hugged her and nuzzled into her chest. "She’ll go away. She probably is looking for food for her young ones..." he said.

Jessamyn wanted to scream in rage. That was a brown bear, and the ones that had cubs were the most dangerous, as she had read. Why the "greatest warrior" of their time was more keen on rubbing on her chest rather than fighting off that bear, she didn’t know!

She pressed her hand on his cheek and pushed him away. He already had prickly hair on his chin and she did not like that feeling on her delicate skin. "Why aren’t you doing anything? We are going to be her cub’s breakfast!"

She tried to reel back on her anger, but her frustration was so great. She had traversed the Great Green Forest for years and only lately did she come across various wild animals that tried to kill her. With her recent luck with animals, she didn’t think that bear would go away.

"Ah," Jerrick lifted his head, still hugging her. "You must be hungry..." He kissed her cheeks and turned to the bear.

Is he going to feed me the bear? Whatever... As long as I don’t become bear food, I am fine with anything...

"Go! Don’t you realize you’re scaring my wife? Go, bring us some fish," Jerrick said, no, he commanded.

Yes, he was talking to the bear as if he was his subordinate and Jessamyn’s jaws dropped to the floor with utter shock.

She blinked her eyes when Jerrick looked at her. "Lie down for some time. I’ll cook you breakfast."

Jessamyn looked at the bear as it huffed. It looked between Jerrick and Jessamyn, then slowly began to back away, disappearing into the dense forest.

What the...

"Are you serious?" Jessamyn’s voice got shrill out of shock.

"There is still time. Just lie down~"

"That’s a trained bear?" Jessamyn shouted, still unable to come out of her shock. "Are you running a circus? I get that you raise a mynah and horses, and I can understand the owl to some extent. But a bear? Why?"

Jerrick wetted his lips. "That is a wild bear. I do not raise~"

"Liar!" Jessamyn hit his chest. "You only know to lie..." she continued hitting his chest. Her palms had gone cold out of fear and this guy here was relaxed only because he knew it was his pet bear.

He even said that it was looking for food for its cubs!

"Is it even a female bear?" she asked.

Jerrick was not answering and was bowing his head. "Jerrick!" she hit his arm again, and only then she realized that he was not looking down, but was looking under her neck—her bare-naked chest.

"Pervert!" she huffed and covered herself with the coat.

Jerrick grunted and turned. Jessamyn couldn’t fall asleep again and asked for her clothes. He gave her the bag she packed. The corset she was wearing was gone and when she asked him, she got no answer.

She didn’t want to argue with him so early in the morning and changed. Thankfully, she had packed another corset with her clothes. Jerrick got the fire started and made her tea.

Jessamyn sat, sipping her tea, still processing the surreal scene that had just unfolded. The bear, now gone, had acted with a level of obedience she had only seen in well-trained pets, not wild animals. She couldn’t help but marvel at Jerrick’s ability to command such a creature. It was baffling and impressive in equal measure.

Jessamyn watched as Jerrick skillfully cleaned the fish, his hands moving with practiced ease. The aroma of the cooking fish soon filled the hollowed tree, mingling with the earthy scent of the forest. The tension from the morning slowly began to dissipate as the comforting smell of food wafted through the air.

With her hands supporting her cheek, she watched him. He was not the boy she knew. He had grown into a man she didn’t expect him to be.

He exuded a quiet strength and maturity that was both surprising and comforting