Chapter 156
Nyssa pov
Oh. My. Goddess.
My jaw practically hit the ground as I stared at Zayn in shock and disbelief, watching him casually grin down at the two men below. His posture was so relaxed he could’ve been mistaken for a sloth. But that wasn’t even the most shocking part–sure, him sitting up in a tree was strange enough, but what truly stunned me was the fact that he had been here the entire time… and i hadn’t noticed.
Maybe it would’ve made sense if I were still wolfless, but after Sheila, my senses had sharpened to the point where I could detect a presence almost instantly. Yet this man had been perched there all along without me realizing. And something told me I still wouldn’t have, if he hadn’t spoken up.
“S–sir Zayn,” Isabella whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she stared up at him. Almost instantly, her cheeks flushed a deep pink, clearly mesmerized by his beauty.
And to be fair, I’d agree, Zayn was an undeniably beautiful man. After Darius, he was the second most attractive man I’d seen, followed closely by Cassian and Drake. Sitting there under the moonlight, with the wind ruffling his hair, he looked like something painted by the goddess herself. Any woman would be smitten.
But for some reason, I felt… nothing. Not even the faintest flutter in my heartbeat.
Instead, my mind was preoccupied with the fact that this man had been here all along, his presence completely hidden.
I arched a brow, my gaze narrowing as I studied him.
From what I could tell, he didn’t seem like an ordinary doctor.
That or I didn’t notice him because I was too busy trying not to get caught.
“Sir Zayn, is that you? What are you doing in the tree?” Billy, the taller of the two asked in confusion, staring up.
Zayn’s grin widened and I knew he’d spotted me from the corner of his eye. My heart pounded at the thought that he might expose us.
“Good evening, guards,” he greeted casually, lifting a hand in a lazy wave before gesturing toward the tree he sat on.
“I came to get some juicy apples the maids were gossiping about. They called them the forbidden apples of the packhouse, apparently, once you take a bite, you can’t get enough. So, naturally, I got curious.” His tone was light, almost as if he were telling a story. “And just like they said, after the first bite, I couldn’t stop. I just kept eating them one after another.”
He pointed toward the ground beneath him, and as the guards followed his finger, so did Isabella and I, only for me to scoff in disbelief at
what I saw.
Beneath him lay a heap of already–eaten apples, and it wasn’t just three or four.
No, even from here, I could’clearly tell there had to be at least fifteen… maybe even twenty.
No freaking way, did this man actually eat twenty apples?
“Wow…” the two guards muttered in unison, eyes wide as they stared at the pile I caught the twitch in Billy’s eye as he muttered, “You must have really loved those apples, Sir Zayn..! you ate a lot.”
“Yes… I think you ate most of the apples on the tree, Sir Zayn,” Liam added, and Zayn chuckled at his words before shaking his head.
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Chapter 156
“Oh, I didn’t. You don’t have to worry about that, there are still more. I think five, but we’re in the right season, so they’ll grow back in na
time
A silent scoff escaped me at his words, and I couldn’t stop myself from shaking my head as Billy and Liam exchanged a confused glance.
This man… he didn’t seem too normal.
“I see… haha. It was you, Sir, that I heard then? I thought it was a woman, sorry for the mistake,” he said, and 1 swallowed nervously, turning to Zayn as he spoke.
“Ah, that is fine,” Zayn responded, and for the briefest moment, I felt his gaze flicker to me before he returned his attention to the guards.
“Sometimes I just like to speak to myself while I’m alone. I talk about different herbs that I mix together to be effective, so you might have mistaken me for a woman but I am the only one here.”
As soon as he said this, a breath of relief escaped me and I instinctively relaxed.
Liam nodded in understanding.
“Alright, Sir Zayn. Apologies for disturbing you–we’ll get back to our work. But be careful though… you know what they say: an apple a day keeps the doctor away… and you are a doctor.” He snorted, laughing hard at his own joke, while Billy rolled his eyes.
I even caught Isabella cringing slightly, but Zayn actually laughed in amusement and clapped his hands.
“Haha, that was actually a funny joke. I will be careful.”
I watched as both Liam and Billy lowered their heads respectfully to Zayn before walking away, their voices carrying through the air.
“You see? I told you, dimwit, there was no one there. You already wasted my time.”
“Come on, bro. There was someone there, Sir Zayn so I wasn’t hearing things like you said.”
As soon as their voices faded, I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and leaned slightly away from Isabella, who still looked terrified at almost being caught. I couldn’t deny I felt a little bad for forcing her into this situation with me, so I reached out and touched her arm, my voice low as I whispered,
“Isabella, you should go back to the packhouse. Just point me in the direction of the dungeon, I’ll go alone from here.”
Her eyes widened, and the next moment she parted her lips, ready to say something. But before she could, a low, calm voice drifted through the air, and when I tore my gaze from her, it flickered to him.
Zayn was now standing right beside Isabella. I frowned instinctively, realizing I hadn’t even heard him move.
As soon as I met his gaze, the smile on his face widened. He lifted one hand in another casual wave, the other tucked into his pocket.
“He
arot
mire libat ara trau daina haranking somawhara again? Vou know this reminds
me of th
at dayton VOLLeura do like emankine
