The Archduke's Songbird-Chapter 186: Unfolding Drama

"I should be greeting everyone..." Jessamyn said with a grimace, carefully looking around to see if anyone might have heard him.

"Why are you nervous?" Jerrick asked, pretending to be oblivious to the internal turmoil Jessamyn was in.

For the past few days, he had kept himself out of her view, mostly because he didn’t want to disturb her further. But he sensed that she slept better whenever he visited her at night, sneaking a little place on her bed for a few hours. There was something between them that made each other better with the other one around.

He wondered if she had realized it too. Probably not. If she did, would she intentionally keep herself unhappy?

There were times when he was too busy to be with her as much as he wanted to. He had no idea preparing for a wedding took that much effort. His previous wedding preparations weren’t that hard. He didn’t care what flowers they used or which color curtains they hung back then. But this time, he put all his effort into the wedding.

She could have helped, at least a little, but she didn’t. It probably was his fault for not even giving her a chance. He wanted to surprise her. And he did see the surprise on her face. Her smile was filled with delight and gratefulness.

He sensed it. He could feel the happiness in her heart as they held hands.

He had asked her whether she wanted to go to bed out of concern, but he could sense the cogwheels of her brain making the connection to another thing. Her brain must be different from his for it made unusual connections.

Judging by her reaction, he sensed no discomfort from her about the wedding night. His tactic of retreating and letting her miss him must have worked. He didn’t hide entirely and made sure she got accustomed to him.

Her last encounter with Joar helped a lot too. He could sense that she was ready to move on. But he couldn’t understand what kept her spirit down.

"Jessamyn," he furrowed his brows. He got worried to see the stress line on her forehead. "Does your head hurt? You keep touching your head," he asked.

"It’s..." Jessamyn looked at him. "I’m not used to wearing a tiara. I got Isadora to fix it earlier but I’m..." Her voice trailed off as she was embarrassed to explain it to him. But she would rather be embarrassed than let him worry. "I don’t want to drop it."

"You like it?" he asked, holding out his hand to touch her face. "You won’t drop it. You have long healthy hair that could hold any weight. Even if you drop it, it won’t matter. Don’t get stressed about it." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

He stood toe to toe with her. His eyes softened as he looked into her eyes and the spread of red on her cheeks was a sight to behold. He had danced with her a couple of times, and still, it was not enough. He wanted to touch her more. He wanted to let her know that he wanted to touch her.

"Shall we?" he held out his hand. "One more dance?"

Jessamyn’s heart skipped a beat. After not properly seeing him or talking to him in the past few days, she wanted to take any chance to be with him.

Taking a deep breath, Jessamyn placed her hand in his. "One more dance," she whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of anticipation and desire.

Jerrick pulled her gently into his arms, and they began to sway to the music. His touch was firm yet tender, grounding her as they moved together. All her worries melted away for a moment, replaced by the warmth of his embrace. His closeness made her heart race with something far sweeter.

Her eyes ended up on his lips. They were red, and his cheeks were a little flushed after everyone toasted him with alcohol. His musky scent, mixed with the hint of alcohol, made her crave something she couldn’t quite name. She couldn’t understand why she felt drunk when he drank.

She fanned herself and avoided looking at him, this time out of that hot feeling rising from her stomach. He was a handsome man, no matter how one looked at him. And he looked at her with those eyes.

As she tried to distract herself by looking around, she noticed a corner of the ballroom, largely avoided by the others, and yet many ladies managed to keep their eyes and ears open toward that area.

Drama alert!

Jessamyn observed the Crown Prince and the King’s mistress there. The crown prince’s knights stood behind him, hands on the hilt of their swords. Their demeanor screamed of the patience they practiced when they wanted to go belligerent on that woman.

The Crown Prince looked mature as he tried to keep his temper. That woman looked calm and elegant as always, even a little vulnerable and weak as she stood crunched up in front of the crown prince.

It should have looked like that woman was getting bullied by the crown prince and the bunch of intimidating knights who would listen to his orders. But Jessamyn could see that it was that woman who was intimidating the crown prince.

The tension in the air was palpable, the unspoken power dynamics playing out in front of her. The Crown Prince looked to be retreating when an unexpected turn of events unfolded. Out of nowhere, Lady Cordelia stormed to that corner everyone else avoided.

Jessamyn’s legs stopped moving. The last time she had spoken to Lady Cordelia was that night in the forest. She had sent one more letter asking about the wedding preparations but had not mentioned anything about Cordelia’s progress with the Crown Prince. Jessamyn had assumed it didn’t go well with her confession and didn’t pry in her reply.

But what is going on here?

Jessamyn had seen a side of Lady Cordelia others rarely saw, but as Cordelia stormed over, she looked like a tempest. Even the mistress was shocked by what Lady Cordelia said, but she soon composed herself.

Jessamyn was curious about the Crown Prince’s reaction, and he stood there with his eyes wide as if he were surprised.

It looked like Cordelia’s words had ruffled the feathers of the mistress, there was a crack in her composure.

Jessamyn almost walked there to have a listen, but she felt the pull by her waist.

Jerrick, noticing her distraction, followed her gaze. He tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her closer. "Don’t worry about them," he whispered into her ear, his breath warm against her skin. "Tonight is our night."