This Marriage Will Surely Succeed Chapter 266

Chapter 266

“Even so…”

Iona, who had been reflexively denying it, suddenly hesitated.

It was true, as Leroy pointed out, that the final order she had followed had not come directly from Richard himself.

However…

“Nothing changes because of that.”

Iona finished her sentence with firmness in her voice.

From the very beginning, Iona had not abandoned Richard because he had done something wrong.

She had simply wanted to dedicate her second life to Leroy, the man who had stood by her side and protected her during her final moments.

Because of that choice, it was inevitable that she and Richard would become enemies.

Even if there had been some mistake in the process, if she had misunderstood Richard’s true intentions, it wouldn’t have changed anything.

“If he is the beneficiary of power built upon my mother’s sacrifice, then all the more so.”

Saying this, Iona looked at Leroy with a trace of resentment.

She couldn’t understand why he was speaking as if to make excuses for Richard’s actions.

Iona had no interest whatsoever in Richard’s hidden circumstances.

And when she thought about what she and Leroy had to do going forward, she knew that was the right judgment to make.

An enemy was someone to analyze and anticipate, not someone to empathize with or pity.

“I only said that because I think you’re underestimating that man’s emotions.”

Leroy spoke as if to calm Iona, who had grown emotional.

His hand reached out slowly and stopped just short of her face.

After a moment’s hesitation, he gently cupped her cheek with a careful touch.

Meeting her eyes, he said—

“I was worried you might get hurt by touching him carelessly.”

In the end, what came from his lips was concern for her.

It would be a lie to say he felt no dissatisfaction with that worthless man’s conduct, but to Leroy, the crown prince had long since ceased to be a romantic rival.

Considering such human refuse a “competitor” would only demean his own dignity.

Leroy was simply wary of whatever chaos the man might cause.

“That will not happen.”

Iona spoke firmly, reading his thoughts.

Leroy knew it was a lie meant to reassure him—or at best, an empty boast.

“You always say that, yet you come back injured.”

“It’s only minor wounds.”

“I don’t want you to take even that kind of risk. Especially not if it’s because of me.”

At his plea, Iona felt a flicker of unfairness.

What was this man saying, when he was the one who had once leapt into danger to save an estranged wife?

If Leroy hadn’t been willing to risk his life for her back then, she never would have turned to his side in the first place.

Iona’s eyes narrowed.

“…I don’t want to hear that from you, your grace. You’re the kind of person who would even dive into the water to save a complete stranger.”

“Me? Surely not.”

“And yet, when you were so young, you rushed at a kidnapper just to save me.”

Fortunately, Iona had plenty of examples to give without bringing up her past life.

At her pointed remark, Leroy’s lips closed in surprise, his expression caught off guard.

Leaning back slightly, he raised his right hand to cover his mouth and let out a low hum.

“That feels like a bit of a different matter.”

“It’s not different at all.”

“But you are my wife.”

The unexpected answer left Iona momentarily flustered.

Mouthing soundlessly in disbelief, Iona finally managed to retort.

“Back then, I wasn’t your wife, was I?”

“Maybe I just had a feeling. I thought about that moment for a long time afterward—why I had been so desperate to save a child I was meeting for the first time. I doubt I would have gone that far if it had been someone else.”

Leroy scratched his chin with an embarrassed expression, then suddenly stopped and lifted his head.

He looked straight into Iona’s eyes and said—

“I think it was because of your eyes.”

“…”

“These red eyes of yours kept flickering in my mind. I just couldn’t stand by and watch you be taken away.”

Iona started to say something in rebuttal but closed her mouth again.

She could feel her face gradually flushing with a heat that was anything but ordinary.

But inside the moving carriage, there was nowhere to hide from his gaze.

When Iona clenched her fists for no real reason, Leroy naturally reached out and took her hand, easing the tension from her grip.

Then, glancing down at her palm where faint white marks from her fingernails remained, he let out a small, amused smile.

“No matter what, I can’t help but care about you. I think, in the end, you’ll just have to accept that.”

“…Such unreasonable words…”

“That’s why they say to draft contracts carefully. Sorry, but you’re already mine.”

As if to mark that fact, he lightly brushed her ring finger, the place where the wedding ring he had given her rested.

A faint note of satisfaction appeared in his eyes as he looked down at the gleaming band.

In a content voice, he murmured—

“If you’ve given yourself to me, then I can do as I please now, can’t I?”

Where his skin touched, a tingling sensation lingered.

If you looked at it that way, she too was in the same position—wanting to protect her husband. And striving to keep what was hers was only natural.

There was no reason Iona couldn’t argue that point. And yet, she didn’t pull away from the hand he was holding.

Perhaps it was because leaving his wish for her safety right where it was didn’t feel so bad.

They were both protecting each other, and feelings like that didn’t require improvement.

Iona suddenly thought, this must be what love is. That there was no form closer to the name than this.

She was just about to let the words slip out thoughtlessly—

When the carriage they were riding in came to an abrupt halt.

Immediately, the sound of bustling voices could be heard outside.

It seemed they had arrived at their destination, and the guards were dismounting from their horses one by one.

Glancing through the carriage window to check the situation outside, Leroy spoke in a voice tinged with mischief.

“A pity. We were finally enjoying a quiet moment together.”

Then he stood up first, opened the door, and stepped outside.

Only after seeing the hand extended toward her did Iona quickly rise to her feet.

Maybe it was thanks to that brief interlude, sharing old memories with her husband—

That when she stepped outside and saw the crumbling ruin before her, she thought first not of the years she had been confined there, but of the young Leroy instead.

“Is this the place you spoke of?”

A knight waiting nearby turned to Iona for confirmation.

Judging from the skeptical look on his face, he must have found the exterior more like an industrial facility than a home.

Before Iona could nod, Leroy answered with firm conviction.

“Yes.”

He, too, remembered this place. Perhaps, after the incident, he had returned here while searching for her, and maybe his memory of it was even clearer for that reason.

When Iona stayed silent in agreement, the knight offered to lead the way.

“Then, shall we go inside?”

Without a word, Iona followed him toward their destination for the day—

The place where she had learned to hold a sword before she even learned her own name.

The greenhouse where Hayden Modrov had hidden and raised the child of the imperial princess.

And yet, despite such malice, it was the unexpected kindness she had been forced to accept from a stranger that left the deeper impression here.

****

As expected, the long-abandoned building was in poor condition.

It hadn’t been built with wooden pillars, so the frame was still intact to some extent, but the fact that it had been almost completely burned down didn’t help much in conjuring the past.

At first, the knights kept a wary eye on their surroundings as if guarding against some potential threat, but as time passed, Iona could sense their vigilance gradually waning.

She stopped walking only when it felt like they had completely lost interest in this space.

“Would you give me a little time alone to think? I can barely remember this place as it is, since I stayed here when I was so young—and with so many people around, I can’t focus at all.”

“But Duchess, as your escorts, we cannot leave you alone here…”

“You can. Do you really think an assassin would be hiding in a collapsed ruin like this? The greatest danger here would be an old door falling the rest of the way off its hinges.”

Saying that, Iona gave a few light kicks to a door she had spotted.

Sure enough, the final hinge, barely holding on, came loose, and the door fell flat onto the floorboards.

The knights all flinched in unison at the unexpected crash.

Iona smirked and spoke as if to scare them.

“Besides, wasn’t today’s outing for the purpose of uncovering the questions surrounding the imperial family? Anyone else who remembers my childhood is welcome to stay.”

“In that case, I suppose everyone except me should leave.”

Leroy nodded in agreement.

With even the duke siding with his wife, the knights could no longer insist on staying.

As Iona had said, this place no longer needed their protection. They had all confirmed that fact themselves while exploring the area.

Reluctantly, the knights turned and made their way out. Iona and Leroy stood still, waiting in silence until they heard the distant sound of the iron door closing.

And when even that noise faded and the surroundings grew completely quiet—

From beneath the rotting floorboards of the ruin, the assassin who had been hiding there all along crawled out, as if waiting for this moment.

---The End Of The Chapter---

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