Duke's pov : Chapter 3

I woke up in my bed, coughing. I sat up and looked around. I was in my room and I was alone, it was already midnight. I was feeling dizzy and my body hurt a lot. It seems that I slept for some hours. It took me a moment to realize what happened. I coughed and spit a bit of blood. I suddenly started to cough violently and saw a bit of blood on my lips. I immediately got up from my bed and looked in the mirror. My face was pale and I had a lot of sweat on my forehead. It felt like I had just gone through a near death experience. I sat on my bed and tried to understand what happened. My mouth was dry and my throat hurt a lot. It seems that she went for help as fast as could and I survived. "Mmm... What a crazy girl..." I chuckled while coughing a bit. 

"It seems I have survived, thank God..." I thought to myself. I stood up from my bed and started coughing again. It hurt a lot but I was glad to be alive. I walked with difficulty to the bathroom to wash my face. I took off my shirt and looked at the mirror, my face was pale and my eyes were red. I was sweating a lot, as if I had just gone through a workout. I washed my face, drank some water, put on a new shirt and fell into my bed again. I felt more tired than ever. I got up from my bed and opened the window. I tried to breathe some fresh air and it felt good. My whole body was sore, but it seemed that the doctors had managed to take the poison out of my system. I took a deep breath and closed the window. I then went to the mirror in the bathroom and saw that my face had returned to its natural color, but it still looked a bit pale. I was feeling hungry and thirsty after sleeping that much, but I was also not willing to risk eating anything. I decided to keep sleeping, hoping to feel a bit better in the morning. 

It was the next morning when I woke up. I felt better but my whole body still hurt. I got out of bed and looked at the mirror in the room. I still looked a bit pale but my face was no longer as white as yesterday. The door suddenly opened and one of my servants entered the room. "Your breakfast is ready Sir. I thought you would enjoy breakfast in bed" said the servant. I walked towards the table and my eyes widened when I saw a few strawberries in my plate. "Wait, did you put strawberries in my breakfast?" I said with surprise. 

I felt a bit annoyed, but I was not really surprised. My allergy to strawberries was well known at the Palace. It seems that my rival, Prince Theodore, really wanted to kill me. "Oh my god" I said with fear in my eyes "I'm allergic to strawberries!". I put my hand on my face, trying to stay calm. "No, no way, I cant believe this. That chef must have been hired by the Prince of the north". I said with a worried face. The prince was always after me, but I had never thought he had gone that far. 

I looked at the servant, still trying to process what had just happened. "You tell the new chef to make another breakfast, without the strawberries" I said quickly and with the highest tone I could. 

Later that day I felt much better. I had already eaten two times, avoiding any dish with strawberries. I got out of my bed and walked to the door of my room. I opened it and asked my Servant if he knew anything about Isabella's whereabouts. The Servant looked scared and said "Ehm... she is in the dungeon sir ". I looked at the Servant surprised and said "In the dungeon?! What did she do?". I looked even more worried now, all I could think about was Isabella being punished for my mistake. I felt terrible about this, she was just doing her job and I had failed to hear her words. 

My hands were shaking, my body was trembling. I ran out of my room and asked my guards if they knew where Isabella was sent. They told me that she was in the dungeon for poisoning me. Everyone had misunderstood what really happened, I wasn't really sure how to explain the whole situation. 

I ran to the dungeon as fast as I could. I saw Isabella resting her back on the cold wall and her white hair shining under the moonlight. She was sleeping, while chained. She was still very beautiful, even in that condition. I approached near her and tried to get her attention. "Isabella.... Isabella wake up, wake up!" I said, trying to wake her up. She opened her eyes slowly, as if she would get up in a moment... but that moment never came. I had never seen her so tired and weak... 

I was surprised by the slap, but I still felt relief in seeing her awake. She looked at me annoyed and said "Why are you so stupid?". I looked at her and laughed. "I made a mistake Isabella, I know..." I said trying to explain myself. She was still looking at me annoyed. I then walked behind her and untied her chains. "I know you were doing your job... and in some way, you actually saved me, thank you" I said a bit embarrassed. 

She looked at me annoyed once again, but this time she was not hiding those feelings. Her face was full of annoyance and I could not believe it. I was shocked but I still wanted to make her feel better. I put one of my arms around her shoulder and smiled. "Isabella, please stop being mad at me. I know that what happened was my fault...". She kept her annoyed look when suddenly, she started laughing. "Oh Tiberius, you are just too silly" she said. Suddenly everything changed, my smile came back at the sound of her laughter. 

I did not expect her reaction, but I laughed harder at her sudden behavior. She was still choking me, but I could not feel anything. I laughed and laughed, while she held my neck stronger, but I still had my arm around her shoulder. "I HATE YOU" she said, while still trying to choke me. It felt kinda sweet if you asked me. I kept laughing loudly, while she was trying to kill me. "Yes I love you too Isabella, now please stop trying to kill me" i said while still laughing. 

I stopped laughing when I saw the wounds on her back. I hugged her tightly and felt an anger in my heart. The wounds were fresh and that meant that someone had whipped her. I felt like I was ready to smash the world. "Isabella who did this to you? Tell me and I swear I will destroy that bastard" I said with a mad look on my face. She did not want to answer me and looked away avoiding my look with all her strength. I felt my hand burning, I wanted to hit something. "Dammit Isabella tell me!! Who did this??" 

I grabbed Isabella and forced her face towards me. I needed to hear the truth, no matter what. It was time for her to tell me EVERYTHING. "Isabella, tell me who did this? Was it Anne? Tell me and I will take care of her!". She looked at me shocked, unable to answer. After a long moment of silence, she finally spoke...."It was... Her who did it" she said ashamed, looking away. 

I felt a strong feeling of anger and sadness inside me. "Damnit, I will not let her go away with that" I thought. I kept forcing Isabella to answer me, I wanted to know everything and then I asked her again "Why did she do that? Did she think you betrayed me or what?". She tried to avoid my questions, but I kept squeezing her arm to make her talk. She looked at me with a scared look, but she ended up answering my question. "....She... thought I was getting more intimate with you..." she said looking away. 

I felt a wave of anger against that stupid Anne, but I did not want to make things worse. I took my arm out of Isabella's shoulder and took a step back from her. I could see how she was trying to avoid me and that was making me very anxious. I still could see the wounds on her back, they were not deep, but still present. I looked at her annoyed and my hands were trembling. 

I took Isabella to my room. The doctor treated her wounds and tried to prevent the bruises from getting bigger. Without further thinking, I mounted my horse and got on an expedition to make Justice. I had the best men of my army with me and we rode our horses towards the mansion of the lovely woman. She would not get away with that and we would make her pay for what she did to Isabella. Soon we arrived at the mansion and I told my men to wait near the gate. I dismounted my horse and entered the mansion alone and unarmed. I walked towards the woman and said "Hello lovely girl, I heard that you love to make people play games.". 

Anne looked at me sedously, thinking she would finally win my heart and my wealth. She looked at me with a smile and I could see how confident she was. Little did she know that we played another game... She tried to speak but my guards busted in and interrupted her. They pointed swords at her and her guards, telling her to surrender. With all the confidence and seduality, she just said "I will not surrender...". My guard approached her and grabbed her by the arm without using force. I went near the Lady and told her "You will surrender". 

She was not afraid, I was not impressed by her behavior at all. She was just a girl who thought that she was too smart and she could get whatever she wanted. When she spit on my face, I was so angry that I slapped her hard. The slap was very loud and I enjoyed it. It made me feel good to hit her and make her feel the same pain she made Isabella feel. My guards were surprised, but they understood that I had all the rights to do that. When I slapped her, I did it thinking that was for Isabella and I did not feel sorry. She tried to say something but I did not let her speak. I smiled at her with confidence and took my sword from its sheath. "So, who really whipped Isabella?". 

She looked at me shocked, scared and unable to answer. I laughed at her face. "Innocent my ass, you stupid girl. You thought I would fall for your stupid games?". As soon as the words left my mouth, I could see how scared she was, but I did not show any pity for her. There was a long moment of silence until she finally spoke "I am... I'm sorry. It... it was not me. I swear!". I kept laughing at her face and said "You have the worst lies ever... And I am not really impressed by that.". 

I ordered my guards to take her to the worst dungeon that the city had. I knew she would suffer and i hope she will. I wanted her to pay for what she did to Isabella, but not only for that. There was something in her that annoyed me. She always thought that she was better than everyone, but she was just a spoiled brat. I went back to Isabella and visited her where I left her, in my chambers . She was still recovering and she was in pain. I entered the room and sat on my bed. 

I went back to Isabella and sat next to her. Her eyes were closed, but I could tell that she was not sleeping. My head was on her chest and my ears were close to her heart. Her heartbeat was very slow, but I loved to feel her alive. I stayed there, looking at her and listening to her heart beating. She opened her eyes and looked at me as if she wanted to say something to me, but she still did not have the strength to speak. "Isabella..." I said gently. 

Isabella sighed and I felt that she still wanted to say something to me but she was way too tired to speak. Her face was pale and her breathing was quite weak. I felt very tired too, it was already very late. I wanted to hug Isabella again and go to sleep with her in my arms, but I knew that I had to stay awake. Her face was too beautiful for me to not look at it for even a second. I stayed there, looking at her for some time. After some time, I felt like my eyes were closing as if I was about to sleep too. 

After some time, I felt my eyes closing, as if I was about to sleep too. This situation was too perfect for me to let it happen. I looked at Isabella's face, her beautiful eyes and her soft hair. I did not want to sleep but I could no longer keep my eyes open. I stayed there for some extra moments, trying to fight against my sleepiness. My eyes finally closed, I felt Isabella's breath on my shoulders and I slowly fell asleep.