XIII · ISABELLE

Isabelle Baudelaire's point of view

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THAT ASSHOLE... I SWEAR I'LL KILL HIM. I'LL fucking stab his damned heart. How dare he do that to me? And he calls himself a gentleman? What a... Damn it.

Alright, I may have provoked him a little bit, but it was harmless, come on. And I just played with what he was showing to me already. But he crossed the line. If it wasn't for the current circumstances, I would poison his food and he would die tomorrow already.

Biting my towel, I screamed in anger.

Sigh. How am I going to face him without thinking of what he did tonight? Gods' help me. I'm really screwed.

And the worst part is that if I react awkwardly towards him, after all I said to him today, Mathis and Adrien will 100% be suspicious! Which means I'll have to swallow my shyness and keep acting as if he didn't have any effect on me.

I truly can't wait until he leaves us. His presence here is dangerous to me. To my life. To my sanity. To myself as a whole.

How can I sleep after all of that?

Exactly. I cannot!

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The nighttime passed slowly, and daylight came in beaming through my windows, while I stared at nothing, cursing Dimitri nonstop. When the light began to hurt my eyes, I got up and took another cold bath, before the maids came in to help me with whatever I needed. And this time I decided to dress my favorite riding clothes, with trousers, of course, just to shock that asshole even more.

And I confess that a part of me, wants to show him how beautiful I am. My grandma herself told me that I inherited my curves from my mom, and that she was the most desirable woman at her time, followed by Dimitri's mother.

Although I don't usually use riding clothes with high boots, or any kind of corset, but I couldn't help it this time. It made my looks even more outstanding. I'm really astonishing.

Men should fear a woman that is beautiful without even dolling herself up, because when she decides to do it, she'll become more dazzling than anyone else. I'll making that bold asshole regret having provoked my anger back in the kitchen. He doesn't know who he is messing with.

When my maids came in, they were all stunned by how I had styled myself. "You are... outstandingly gorgeous today, Princess!" Mrs. Jeannette Lémery, my oldest maid, who's around me since I was 4 years old, spoke, and came behind me. "How do you want me to style your hair?"

"Thank you, Jeannette!" I said smiling. "Regarding my hair, can you do like, a braid on the upper part of my head, letting the rest loose, but with those warms waves you make? Ah, and leave some streaks in front of my face too, please."

She nodded excited, "My Princess, do you allow me to ask you a question?"

"Of course," I'm in a good mood.

The other maids seemed very aware of our talk while they cleaned my room. All with a sharp hearing. I think that might be a necessary characteristic before they are accepted as maids. Because all of them are the same on this.

"Are you, perhaps, getting all beautiful like this, to groom His Grace, Duke Dimitri Delacroix?" I froze.

"What? Absolutely not. Don't offend me like that. You should all know that if we feel something towards each other, that something is called disgust and anger. Loath, at best. Believe me, we are really hostile with one another. I would rather die than ever let anything happen between the two of us!" Especially after what he did. "And if he ever tries anything, I'll castrate him!"

They all gasped in shock and said nothing after this.

How amusing. I bet that by at this hour, tomorrow, people all over Desmoulins will be talking about this. And will probably complain about my dad and Genevieve for putting the two of us in the same place.

When Jeannette was done with my hair, she spread some of my floral scented oil behind my ears, neck, wrist, and ankles. Wrapping my dagger around my waist, not bothering to hide them because of the black trousers, I left my chambers and realized everyone else was already down there.

As planned.

And when I arrived at the table, we usually have breakfast on, Sir Raymond told me they were eating in the outdoor garden. Which made me solely think of Jade and I ran to the indoor garden to make sure that she was there.

Thankfully, she was sleeping in front of the small pool that had some carps on. I can still feel my mother inside here. It hurts to remember that I'll never able to walk around here with her again.

Snapping out of it, I got out and went to where they were. And Gods, when they saw me, I swear Dimitri coughed whatever was it that he was drinking. My dad got up, and for some reason, hug me, out of nowhere.

"How is it that you look like me but resemble your mother so much?" I gulped, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "You are beautiful, daughter."

"I know," I exclaimed, trying to easy the mood.

"You have the same style as your mother," Genevieve said, her tone was calm but I could see the note of sadness on it. "To think that you would be a crackhead like her and defy society by using trousers as well," she giggled and got up, with all her grace. "You are dazzling, my dear!" But it got worse. "Isn't she, Dimitri?"

My eyes went to him and I saw his intense gaze almost devouring me, "Yes... she is!" His voice seemed deeper than usual and Mathis glared at him.

"Can you stop acting as if I'm a piece of art in an auction, please?" I giggled awkwardly and my siblings laughed at my reaction, as usual. "What are you idiots laughing at?"

I heard my dad sigh, "Try not to curse, Belle."

"Sorry, father!" My eyes met Dimitri's again and I felt like a deer being stared at by a damn lion. And I absolutely hated that feeling. "I know I'm beautiful, can you stop staring at me now, please?"

He coughed but didn't let the smirk faint, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Yes. Yes, you are. Creepy asshole!" My dad gasped.

"Language, Isabelle! Please, my dear."

"Sorry... sorry, again, dad!" I cursed the asshole in my mind and avoided his gaze, decided to sit at his right side, rather than in front of him. "If you keep looking at me, I'll pop your eyes out!"

My father gasped while drinking his coffee, and I felt guilty again. Why can't I control my tongue around him, damn it!

"Isabelle Delannoy Baudelaire, my daughter, please, how do you aim to find a husband with this dirty tongue of yours, my dear? Try not to be so aggressive, please." I felt my cheeks burn and I knew the dumbass was staring at me. "You have to cooperate, daughter!"

"Sorry..." I exclaimed then I turned to Dimitri, "It's all your fault," I muttered and he smirked.

"What am I doing?"

Taking a deep breath, I avoided his eyes. "You know what you are doing, very well." I whispered low enough for our parents not hear us.

And he dared to shorten the distance between us, "If there's someone among the two of us doing something to provoke the other," even though I wasn't looking at him, I could tell he was smirking, "that someone is you, Baudelaire!"

Ignoring the shiver down my spine, I scoffed. "You keep thinking highly of yourself, Dimitri. You will end up getting really disappointed at end. And don't come saying I didn't warn you!"

"The same goes for you!"

When I got my attention back to the other people on the table, Jean and Mathis were both staring at us, making it almost impossible for me not to blush. Then, to take the spotlight off of me, I decided to foolishly help my brother out.

"So, Dimitri," I exclaimed loud enough to make everyone's gazes turn to me. "Is you sister engaged?"

He seemed confused by my question, but seeing as everyone was looking at him now, he had no choice but to answer me. "No. She's as single as we are!"

"Does your father and her mother have someone in mind?" I questioned without looking at his eyes, putting some tea in a mug for me.

"No. If they have, they didn't tell me." Interesting.

For an instant my eyes went to Mat and I saw the blush on his cheek. Gods, he's so obvious. "I heard a rumor that she also likes The Lovers of June series," I put a spoon of milk jam in my tea and began to mix it. "Is it true?"

"Well, yes. I'm still a bigger fan than she is, but she does loves it. I bought the first book for her when she was sixteen, right when the book came out," oh, yes, she's 2 years older than me, and a year younger than Mat. "Since then, she became addicted to it."

That made me feel proud of myself. "Interesting. And is she in love with someone?" Just to clear the ground for my brother.

"In love? Marie-Claire?" He giggled, "I find that hard to believe. My sister has a strange fascination for a certain type of guy, that it's more akin to exist in fiction books!"

I chuckled softly, "We have that in common then!" I exclaimed and focused on my tea with all my will-power, sensing his intense gaze now turned to me. "Now, tell me, what about your brother? Augustin-Cyprien seems to be a very interesting guy."

If I don't ask about his brother too, he might get suspicious of my sudden interest in his sister, and that could lead him to realized that she's the girl Mathis' fancies. I can't do that to my brother!

When he didn't say anything, I turned to glare at him and found him already staring at me. He seemed bothered. "So? What about your brother?"

"Augustin is fine. He also loves the books. He isn't engaged yet," I stopped him right away. Let's piss him off a little bit.

"Oh, so he's free?" I feigned interest, and he opened his eyes wide, in pure disbelief. "He's just a year older than me, isn't he? Do you think you could perhaps introduce us?" I provoked him with an innocent face.

And believe me when I tell you that he seemed close to kill someone by the way he was staring at me. How amusing. Could his siblings be his weakness, like my brothers are mine?