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Chapter 102
“Didn’t I say I would come to pick you up?”
Richard seemed surprised by Iona’s reaction, as if he hadn’t expected it.
The letter he had sent clearly stated he would come to meet her at her home, but Iona had thought it was just a polite formality.
Richard wasn’t the kind of person to personally bother with such tedious tasks.
Iona had expected that she would be transported to the Prince’s palace by someone sent by Richard and then accompany him from there.
Richard, noticing her visible discomfort, added an explanation in a joking manner.
“I couldn’t possibly commit the discourtesy of asking for an escort and then letting the lady travel alone.”
If she were to point out the truth, it was rather more discourteous of him to insist on accompanying her.
Because Iona already had a suitable partner to escort her.
However, she couldn’t openly show her discomfort in front of the Prince, so she quietly expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“You don’t seem very thrilled about it.”
“...I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“You should be happy, at least when you’re in my presence.”
Richard’s lips curved into a faint smile, but it didn’t look kind at all.
On the contrary, It felt more like pressure.
Iona, sensing he wouldn’t step aside until he heard the answer he wanted, quietly replied, “Of course, I’m happy.”
Only then did he erase the smile from his lips. Ironically, it signified that he was relieved.
“You look very beautiful today.”
After complimenting her in passing, he took Iona’s hand and placed it on his arm. Then, they headed outside towards the waiting carriage.
Walking awkwardly in step with him, Iona spoke in a troubled voice.
“You don’t need to make such empty compliments to me.”
“Am I in a position where I need to resort to empty words?”
Richard retorted as if she said something absurd.
He, having climbed into the carriage first, reached out his hand to Iona.
After a moment of hesitation, she took his hand.
As Richard pulled her up, he emphasized, “You are beautiful. Sincerely, it would be a shame to let any other man see you like this.”
He just spoke calmly, as if he was only telling the truth, so Iona didn’t know how to respond further.
Eventually, choosing silence, Iona quietly sat opposite him.
It wasn’t a noticeable act of defiance.
The silence was more familiar between Richard and Iona.
Iona was his escort knight, and naturally, it was more common for her to blend into the background rather than engage in conversation with him.
Richard, apparently not expecting a reply, promptly started the carriage.
The sound of the carriage rolling over the road surface softly echoed.
Iona slightly adjusted her uncomfortable position.
Usually, she would be driving the horses outside his carriage, but sitting face-to-face like this felt somewhat awkward.
Richard suddenly asked, “I heard you went to the Modrov territory during your break. Was there some issue?”
“Yes, a problem arose in the territory that needed to be resolved. Fortunately, being on vacation at the time was a big help.”
“If I had known you’d be leaving the capital, I would have given you a longer break.”
Richard gazed intently at Iona, as if expecting her to say something.
As if his guess was correct, Richard gently called Iona’s name.
“Iona.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you have something to tell me?”
Many thoughts flashed through Iona’s mind in that moment.
Now, Iona had many secrets unknown to Richard.
She couldn’t face his probing with the same boldness as before. Such was the nature of betrayal.
“...I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
Iona responded cautiously.
Richard slowly closed and then reopened his eyes, saying,
“I heard a lot has happened to you recently.”
“......”
“You didn’t contact me at all. Not even a simple complaint or a request for help… You didn’t share any news.”
To his reproach, Iona felt a sense of relief inside.
He was referring to the scheme plotted by Florence and Yvonne.
“It wasn’t something that Your Highness needed to worry about.”
“How can it not be my concern when my fiancée instigated my knight to commit adultery?”
Richard’s tone sharpened in response to Iona’s obedient attitude.
It had often happened before that Richard got ostentatiously angry when something unfair happened to Iona.
Of course, that didn’t mean she could make presumptuous requests or ramble on about her troubles to him.
“There’s no solid proof yet. Besides, it was an unsuccessful attempt.”
“It seems my knight needs to learn to value herself more.”
Hearing these words from him, after having died for his sake and come back to life, left her feeling peculiar.
Iona lowered her eyelids in agreement with his advice.
She felt his gaze settle heavily upon her face.
Richard continued in a grave tone.
“I’ll break off my engagement with Florence.”
Shocked by his abrupt statement, Iona hesitated for a moment.
She was well aware that Richard had no real feelings for Florence, but she hadn’t anticipated that he would declare a breakup of the engagement so suddenly.
If it had been before, Iona would have responded that he didn’t have to do that because of her and not to worry about what happened to her.
But now, having shed her blind loyalty, Iona could see their relationship more objectively.
She understood the consequences her actions might bring and how they could benefit her.
Iona, maintaining a composed demeanor, responded.
“It’s not a decision to be made hastily. The wrongdoings of Miss Florence have yet to be fully uncovered.”
“Do you believe Florence is innocent? Naively?”
“I’m saying there’s no evidence.”
The public safety agency had not only failed to reveal Florence’s wrongdoings but hadn’t even started a proper investigation.
This was because the Randshof family was obstinately blocking any progress, threatening not to accept such a humiliating investigation unless the evidence was presented first.
Iona knew her influence alone was not enough to overcome the high walls of the Randshof family.
However, if the Crown Prince intervened, the situation changed.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I will personally investigate the truth,” Richard reassured Iona, signaling her not to be concerned with unnecessary worries.
Indeed, he had the power to make good on that promise.
Perhaps, for him, this situation presented a convenient opportunity to reconsider his engagement with Florence.
His cunning nature, this time, proved to be greatly beneficial to Iona.
“Thank you. To think that Your Highness would go to such lengths for me, it’s an unexpected grace…”
Iona hesitated mid-sentence, as she laid out her gratitude.
She wondered if her response was too effusive for her standards.
However, it seemed her concerns were unfounded as Richard suddenly reached out, taking her hand resting on her knee.
He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, comforting her.
“Didn’t I once tell you not to bottle up difficulties, to not suffer in silence?”
Iona had recently faced a significant ordeal.
Moreover, she was just over twenty years old.
Even the strongest could become vulnerable when faced with personal threats.
Richard didn’t know Iona enough to have such an illusion.
His way of taming young Iona had been to become a verbal sanctuary for her.
Richard closed his eyes, speaking tenderly.
“My knight, my noona.”
“……”
“Never forget that you hold great significance to me.”
Iona suddenly remembered their first encounter.
When she was brought to the palace by Hayden, from that first moment of eye contact, he had treated her specially.
Back then, it felt entirely good.
While she was always dismissed and ignored in the Modrov residence, Richard always sought her out first, spending more time with her than with others, and sometimes sharing secrets unknown to anyone else.
Even if Richard’s attention was but a capricious act of sympathy, like throwing scraps to a stray dog abandoned by the pack, Iona couldn’t bring herself to turn it away.
Sometimes, she pondered.
What exactly was she to Richard?
They had spent a considerable amount of time together, and outwardly, he seemed to care for Iona more than anyone else.
This was a fact best known to Iona, who had closely served and observed him.
Perhaps, as he claimed, she was indeed his most favored person at the moment.
Yet, it was insufficient.
Richard always interacted with others in a twisted way.
For Iona, who longed to live like everyone else, Richard was almost the antithesis of that desire.
Even if Richard attributed great significance to her, his nature was bound to betray her repeatedly in the future.
So, what meaning did his current words hold, whether they were sincere or not?
What mattered was that at this moment, Richard was deeply immersed in assigning special significance to his relationship with her.
It was human nature to embellish even the feelings one knows best in a favorable direction. Pretending sincerity through actions was even easier.
Even if his help stemmed from pretense, the benefits Iona would gain from it were real.
With this in mind, playing along with such a crude role-play for a while didn’t seem too difficult a task.
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