Chapter 121: Wet & scented room
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Now alone with Dante amidst the creeper-entwined pillars and the backdrop of the Blackthorn rose, Anastasia’s heart continued to race. She saw him take a deep breath, as if unconvinced by his grandmother’s earlier words. His eyes roamed from her slender neck to her shoulders before finally settling on her hands.
Anastasia felt him pick up her hand, which she had coughed into, and turn it around as if examining it, but it was clean as she had wiped her palm against the side of her dress.
"It doesn’t look like you are visibly injured anywhere," Dante murmured.
"Nothing happened to me; we were only talking," Anastasia reassured him, and she saw Dante give her a nod in response.
He turned her hand again and brought it to his lips, planting a gentle kiss on her skin. The tender gesture caused her to lower her guard in his presence. As he brought her hand back down, he didn’t let go of it and asked, "Did you bathe in the essence of jasmine today?"
"I did..." Anastasia replied as they stared at each other.
"The lovely fragrance suits you well," Dante approved, and Anastasia’s heart almost calmed down until she heard him say, "But I don’t believe jasmines bleed."
Never had Anastasia felt such intense pressure before, not even when her room was searched for the gold coin. But she told herself there was no reason for Dante to be suspicious.
"Your loud heartbeat betrays you, calling out so sweetly that it makes it difficult not to wonder, Anastasia," Dante remarked, and he continued, "After our conversation is over, I will be sure to have a private conversation with my grandmother separately."