The Archduke's Songbird-Chapter 92: Who She Is

"Scandalous?" Jerrick’s lips curved to a lopsided smile.

Jessamyn turned her face.

"Why are you getting defensive?" he asked, scooting closer to her.

"I dare not," Jessamyn muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

"Jessamyn..."

"Jessamyn..."

"Jess~"

"Stop the carriage!" Jessamyn shouted and stood up.

"Sit. I won’t talk to you," Jerrick said thinking she wanted to get down because she didn’t want to engage in a conversation with him.

"The fruit shop... I saw mangoes... Stop!" Jessamyn explained.

The carriage came to a halt, and Jessamyn stepped out, a skip in her step. She had promised the annoying bird some mangoes but had yet to fulfill it, and the lie had been weighing on her. Now she could finally free herself from the guilt.

From inside the carriage, Jerrick watched her with a smile. She might pretend to hate others, but deep down, she couldn’t harbor true animosity. Even though Emily wasn’t her mother, Jessamyn still cared for her. That was just the kind of person she was.

Hating Imogen? She can never... But what if she...

Jerrick bit the corner of his tongue to stop himself from entertaining that thought. That couldn’t be possible.

Jessamyn bought some mangoes and returned to the carriage.

"Give me one," Jerrick asked, mostly to tease her.

"I didn’t buy them for you," Jessamyn turned her face. "Where is that bird of yours? I didn’t see her anywhere..."

"She’s getting old. She cannot make long journeys," Jerrick answered. "And traveling in a carriage hurts her pride and she prefers not to."

"She’s a bird. What would she know about pride? Don’t assign feelings to her actions on your own..." Jessamyn said.

He talked with such authority as if he read that bird’s mind. She could only roll her eyes.

Jerrick chuckled. "You caught me..."

"I’ll give it to her after we return then... When are we leaving?" she asked.

Jerrick shrugged. "Do you want to visit the city?"

Jessamyn shook her head. "No..."

Joar had taken her to many places in the city, but she had never been a fan of the crowds and the bustling atmosphere. She managed to cope with Joar’s help, but now she wasn’t so sure she could handle it alone.

"Here, you can have one," Jessamyn said, offering one of the largest mangoes she had bought. It had bothered her that she hadn’t given him one when he asked for it earlier.

Jerrick’s heart overflowed with joy at her small gesture. He had asked for a mango just to tease her, but she gave it to him. That was the kind of person she was—genuine and thoughtful—and she hadn’t changed a bit.

My Songbird... She hasn’t changed at all!

"If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth without getting defensive?" he asked.

Jessamyn didn’t like the prelude but nodded anyway as curiosity got her. How long do we need to travel? She wondered not wanting to get stuck with him for a long time. He was getting chatty and she didn’t think it would end well.

"Do you engage in black magic? Something related to the dead or death..." he asked as gently as he could. He wanted to know what that woman possibly meant.

With what that woman said aligning somewhat with what he heard from the other woman, he wanted to be in the loop and know what dangers she might face.

Jessamyn ended up laughing thinking he was teasing her. But as he looked at her seriously for answers, she stopped laughing.

"I do not," she said.

She did need a spell but she had never used any spell in her life.

"When you fainted earlier... Did you dream about something?" he asked.

"No," Jessamyn said.

He said nothing he was in serious contemplation.

"Jerrick, do you want to ask something to me?" she asked.

"No... It’s nothing..." he dismissed it. If she was not aware of it, he didn’t want to scare her by mentioning something he wasn’t sure about.

"Can I remove the cloak for some time?" Jessamyn asked.

Jerrick looked at her as if he was perplexed as to why she asked him about it. But he realized he created a scent in the past when she tried to do something for herself.

He nodded at her and she removed the coat.

Only then did she notice the intricate embroidery on the cloak. The design was extravagant and customized and so, only she owned this coat. It made her heart feel fuzzy.

But when she saw the embroidered crest on the cloak, her heart skipped a beat. She recalled a prophecy about a wolf and a raven coming together to rule over the lands.

Jessamyn ignored it. She wasn’t very sure about the prophecy. She had only read the translated version and knew that sometimes the texts from the original script weren’t translated to their perfect meaning. It could be interpreted wrongly.

Jerrik noticed the panic that stayed in her face for a few seconds before disappearing. She probably knew something about the crest, he concluded.

"Was it hard?" Jerrick asked.

Jessamyn blinked not knowing what he meant.

"Growing up without a mother... Having to call someone else as mother... It must have been tough..."

Jessamyn didn’t answer and looked at the floor of the carriage. Hard, was an understatement. It was terrible.

"You are not very fond of your mother-in-law?" He asked.

He longed to hear her share her troubles with him. It perplexed him that she could seek help from others, but never from him, for her own needs.

Jessamyn didn’t want to answer him. Jerrick asking about her past felt like a burden to her. She wanted to talk about it to no one.

Jessamyn tried to scoot away but he pulled her arm to get closer to her.

"If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to. Why are you running away?"

Jessamyn had no words to say to him. He was right. To survive, she needed to talk for herself.

"I’m~"

Before she finished, she was enveloped in a warm embrace and sitting on the lap of the majestic man she rode the horses with.

"Don’t get defensive, Myna...I shall never hurt you," he said, his eyes seductively gentle as they met with hers.