Fated Hearts: Reborn to be His Duchess

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: The Cure Called Lysa

During long and wearisome lessons, Vaelen would sometimes lean over and whisper to her, "Lysa, want to go play?"

Elysia could no longer remember exactly when that had changed.

When had Vaelen stopped smiling so readily whenever he saw her?

When had he stopped calling her Lysa?

The memories were strangely distant now.

"What about me?"

Cassiel’s voice pulled her back to the present.

Elysia blinked, slow to understand.

"What?"

"May I call you that too?"

She stared at him.

Then, little by little, his meaning sank in.

He wants to call me Lysa.

For some reason, her heart immediately began pounding against her ribs.

Heat crept up her cheeks.

"Lysa."

The name sounded almost tentative when Cassiel first spoke it, as though he were testing how it felt on his tongue.

Yet his voice was naturally deep and magnetic.

Hearing him say that childhood name—one that had always belonged to familiar voices and old memories—suddenly made it feel strangely intimate.

A faint shiver ran through her.

"Do you dislike it?"

Cassiel watched her closely, catching every subtle change in her expression.

"It’s not that..."

Elysia lowered her gaze, her cheeks growing warmer.

A quiet hum escaped him.

"Then you like it."

Elysia looked up in surprise.

He can actually tell?

Before she could respond, he called her again.

"Lysa."

The second time was smoother.

More natural.

And somehow far more intimate.

Elysia’s face burned.

She couldn’t bring herself to answer.

Cassiel’s gaze remained fixed on hers.

Then he asked quietly, "Have you ever considered that my beloved might be you?"

Elysia stared at him.

Her mind went completely blank.

His beloved? Me?

She had once used that very possibility to bluff Deborah.

But that had only been a lie meant to frighten her.

She had never seriously considered that it might be true.

How could it be?

After a long silence, her fingers curled slightly against his shoulder.

"My lord, is it..."

"Hmm?"

Cassiel’s tone invited her to continue.

Elysia’s expression became unusually serious.

"Is the aphrodisiac wine taking effect?"

Cassiel paused.

Elysia continued, completely earnest.

"I’ve heard that people say strange things when they’re under its influence."

What she had actually heard was that, under such circumstances, a man might say anything—even sweet words that he didn’t mean.

And a circumstance like this...

Surely that meant he was affected after taking an aphrodisiac?

Cassiel studied her face.

Her cheeks were flushed like sunset clouds, and her lips looked soft and full.

He had spent countless nights watching her sleep in the dim light of their bedchamber.

Now, with her sitting in his arms and looking at him with such innocent uncertainty, his throat moved as he swallowed.

A raw emotion stirred beneath his composure.

His hand moved slowly across the small of her back.

"Besides making people talk nonsense, what else does it do?"

Elysia hesitated.

"I... I don’t know."

She searched her memory.

"Perhaps... it makes people a little more handsy?"

"Yes."

His voice dropped.

Then he leaned closer.

Before Elysia could react, his lips met hers.

She hadn’t expected it at all.

Her eyes flew wide.

Shock rushed through her as she stared at him from such close range.

Cassiel’s eyes were dark and deep, like a still pool.

He was looking directly at her, his expression almost lazy, yet his attention was entirely focused on her reaction.

Elysia’s heart seemed to stop.

Then she hurriedly closed her eyes.

His lips remained against hers for a moment, warm and unmoving.

Only then did she remember that she could push him away.

Her hands lifted instinctively and pressed against his chest.

But beneath her palms were firm, unyielding muscles.

Cassiel didn’t move.

Instead, his lips shifted gently against hers, the pressure soft and tentative, as though giving her every opportunity to pull away.

A small, muffled sound escaped her throat.

Cassiel heard it immediately and drew back slightly.

Elysia’s heart hammered wildly.

When she opened her eyes, they were faintly red at the edges, her expression flustered.

Cassiel swallowed.

"The effects are getting worse."

His voice was rougher now.

Elysia looked at him hesitantly.

If the aphrodisiac really was worsening, then perhaps...

She lowered her eyes before stealing another glance at him.

"You... just now..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Did it help?"

Cassiel shook his head.

"Not that quickly."

Elysia’s lips parted.

Then she fell silent.

The question she wanted to ask was too embarrassing to say aloud.

Cassiel watched her struggle for words.

"It might need... another one."

He finished the thought for her.

Elysia stared at him in disbelief.

Again?

Her face, already crimson, flushed even deeper, the warmth spreading all the way down her neck.

Cassiel’s gaze softened.

"Do you hate it?"

Elysia immediately shook her head.

Then she stopped.

That wasn’t quite what he had asked.

"I..."

She lowered her head.

"I’m nervous."

The words came out so softly that he almost had to strain his ears to hear them.

It was different from everything else between a man and a woman.

She could be bold when confronting enemies.

She could remain calm under pressure.

She could even stare down people far more powerful than herself without flinching.

But when it came to this, all that confidence simply disappeared.

She often wrote romance into her stories.

She had filled pages with yearning glances, tender encounters, and stolen kisses.

But most of those scenes came from imagination and stories she had heard from others.

Whenever her characters reached the moments that demanded greater intimacy, she would always extinguish the candle and leave the rest to the reader’s imagination.

Not because she disliked writing those scenes.

Simply because she had never known what came next.

She had written kisses before.

But only briefly.

She had never experienced one herself.

Not in her previous life.

Not in this one.

Today had been her first kiss.

"Nervous."

Cassiel repeated the word softly.

Then he let out a quiet sigh.

"Forget it."

He coughed lightly.

"They say the only way to ease the effects of an aphrodisiac is to stay close to a woman."

His voice remained low.

"But if you don’t want that, I won’t force you."

He leaned back slightly, creating a little distance between them.

"It’s only a drug. Strong, perhaps, but nothing I can’t endure."

He coughed again.

"At worst, I might pass out for a few days."

His already pale face seemed to grow even paler.

He looked every bit the picture of a man suffering terribly.

Elysia stared at him.

For some reason, the sight made her heart ache.

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