#CHAPTER 169: Exile

CHARLES Life in exile was surprisingly calm. Despite our conversation before being sent to this remote island, I’d had a harder time adjusting to a relationship with Isabella than I once thought. Perhaps it was the sadness I felt at being away from my home kingdom, or maybe I did not like the vulnerability that came with being alone with Isabella for weeks on end. Or maybe I was just pouting. We had not been intimate the entire time we had been on the island, despite sharing a bed. I knew Isabella felt a bit hurt by my hot-and-cold personality, but I was still struggling with opening up to her and being a true partner. She had tried to initiate sex a few times, and I’d shut her down each time, watching the hurt cross her face each time. There were still a lot of things for me to learn. There were plenty of things that Isabella and I both missed from home. I wished desperately that I was part of the coalition to help rebuild the kingdoms, but I had to