Two days later, Casian came to see Rihana. Raiden had been in an extremely foul mood since morning because he suddenly had a meeting scheduled with the high priests at the main palace right when Casian was supposed to arrive. 

He glared at Fenor like he wanted to kill him over the suddenly changed schedule, then abruptly turned and stormed out of the office. Fenor followed behind him, letting out a short sigh at how Beriel had finally meddled with Raiden’s schedule.

Casian, who had been waiting for Rihana in the reception room, widened his eyes when he saw her enter wearing an elegant yet subdued dress with white, silver, and gold accents.

Even in her knight’s uniform, this woman had possessed a unique calmness and elegance that was exceptionally beautiful. The pride and sensuality contained within that elegance were things only he knew about. 

Seeing her now in a dress he’d never seen before—one that suited her image so perfectly it made him wonder if an angel had descended from somewhere—brought waves of urgent and desperate emotions crashing over him.

“Rihana.”

“It’s been a while, Your Grace.”

“Yes… Have you been well?”

Casian said as he sat down, following Rihana who had taken a seat on the sofa across from him. His throat felt completely blocked, and he swallowed dryly. Rihana watched his Adam’s apple bob and asked him.

“What brings you all the way here? The Empire must still be in chaos…”

“I’m going to marry Her Imperial Highness.”

“…Did you come to inform me of that?”

“I am, Rihana…”

Casian tried to say something but only moved his lips. Rihana looked at him impassively and asked again.

“There was no need for you to come all this way just to inform me of that. I hope you didn’t come here to discuss your marriage to Her Imperial Highness.”

“You are my fiancée. Of course…”

“I ‘was’ your fiancée.”

“…”

“Since the engagement was formally broken off, there’s no need for you to inform me of your marriage. Especially not by going through the trouble of coming here.”

“Your body… I wanted to know if your body was alright…”

“…”

“I’ve been worried constantly.”

“…”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I was the one who hurt you…”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m not fine.”

“It’s already in the past, and thanks to it, we broke off our engagement, so I’m fine.”

“…”

“You weren’t trying to stab me in the first place… So I’m fine.”

At Rihana’s words, Casian stared at her intently. When she turned toward the window, uncomfortable with his gaze, Casian spoke quietly.

“I regret it.”

When Rihana turned to look at Casian, he looked at her with a pained expression on his face. When their eyes met, he dropped his head like he couldn’t bear it and stared at the teacup in front of him. In the cup he hadn’t touched even once, the lukewarm tea rippled slightly.

“I regret stabbing you, but I regret everything else too.”

“…”

“I shouldn’t have done it from the beginning. It was my way of trying to protect you, but it was the wrong way. I only realized that now.”

“…”

“I should have found another way. There was no way you’d be happy about me giving my body to another woman for your sake, and I couldn’t have not known that, yet I foolishly thought you’d understand.”

“…”

“That I did such a thing with that idiotic thinking… I regret it every night when I go to sleep, every morning when I wake up.”

“…It’s already in the past.”

“If I could, I’d want to turn back time.”

“That’s impossible.”

Rihana unconsciously let out a short sigh. Casian’s regret made her extremely uncomfortable. In fact, even sitting face to face having this conversation was exhausting. To Rihana, Casian was now just an uncomfortable and tiresome existence, nothing more.

“I want to be forgiven.”

“That’s also too late now.”

“You loved me.”

“And you betrayed that love.”

“It wasn’t betrayal.”

“If sleeping with another woman while I was your fiancée wasn’t betrayal…”

“I explained that I had no choice.”

“Yet you regret it.”

“…”

“If you regret something you had no choice about, then it wasn’t something you had no choice about in the first place.”

“Rihana.”

“Hah… Surely you didn’t come here to say such things?”

Finally unable to bear the exhaustion, Rihana cut off the conversation with some irritation. Casian didn’t back down and said to her.

“Fortunately, His Imperial Highness is pushing for a marriage between Her Imperial Highness and the Prince of Tarecus.”

Suddenly, Rihana’s brow furrowed noticeably.

“If you just come back with me, I’ll handle the rest together with His Imperial Highness…”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Rihana.”

“This isn’t even worth listening to anymore. Go back.”

“I love you.”

Suddenly, Rihana’s eyes widened.

“I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time.”

“…This is surprising.”

“Even if it’s surprising, it’s the truth. Maybe I’ve loved you much longer than you loved me.”

“…”

“You too… you still love me, don’t you?”

“…”

“The love you felt for me isn’t the kind that disappears so easily. You chose me as your lifelong companion yourself.”

“I did. Yes, I did. Me.”

Foolishly. At the words she muttered, Casian’s face hardened.

“I want to turn it back. That’s why I came to find you.”

“You came to the wrong place.”

“I’ll fix everything. You just need to come with me.”

“I have no reason to go either.”

“Rihana.”

“Your Grace. You seem to be under some misunderstanding, but I don’t love you anymore.”

“…”

“From the day I witnessed with my own eyes you entangled with Her Imperial Highness, my feelings for you grew cold.”

“…That’s not growing cold.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re angry with me. You’re jealous. You still love me, so come with me…”

“Get a grip, Your Grace.”

Rihana spoke in a frighteningly hard tone filled with irritation. She was amazed and angry that he would have such delusions, but she was more irritated by how this worthless man, who definitely hadn’t been worthless before, had become completely worthless.

“I fell for you at first sight when I saw your face, but I didn’t like you just for your looks.”

That was definitely true. Though he had picture-perfect beautiful features, what truly stole her heart completely was his calm and upright character. He was generally sharp and manly in all matters, yet unusually considerate and kind. That’s why she liked him, that’s why she decided to marry him.

But the current Casian…

Pathetic. Yes, he was nothing more than a man who couldn’t be more pathetic than this. The fact that this patheticness was instantly eating away at that handsome face was also a pathetic situation. Rihana sighed briefly and drove the final nail in to prevent this pathetic man from becoming even more pathetic.

“But it seems I failed to properly recognize your character. The current you really… looks so worthless that it’s eating away at those good looks.”

“…!”

“Come back together? I’ve finally gotten the person I want.”

When Rihana shrugged her shoulders once as she spoke, Casian’s already wide eyes bulged out even more.

“Surely you’re not saying you want the Prince of Tarecus…?”

He had actually realized it the moment she took the blade instead of Raiden. Yet he had told himself countless times it couldn’t be true. 

That knights were just like that, that in urgent moments the body moves before the head. That it was a body trained from childhood to protect someone, so her body had moved first without her knowing.

“That’s right. I’ve come to love the Prince of Tarecus.”

With that single statement from Rihana, Casian’s world collapsed.

* * *

Raiden, who had finished his meeting with the ministers at the main palace, hurried out of the council room to return to the West Palace. But Beriel immediately blocked his path and began rattling off other scheduled items.

“Since when have there been so many matters to handle at the main palace in my schedule?”

“It’s just for today. It would be better to quickly discuss the trade issues with the Kadelai Empire…”

“Fenor.”

Raiden called to Fenor, who stood behind him.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Anxiety briefly flashed in Beriel’s eyes as she looked at Fenor, who bowed his head in response.

She was the one who had arbitrarily changed Raiden’s schedule. But it was Fenor who coordinated schedules at the main palace, and Beriel had meddled with Raiden’s schedule trusting only in his taciturnity. 

She had planned to keep Raiden at the main palace for today… no, at least until Casian and Rihana finished their conversation properly, or until Casian fled the kingdom with her.

But she shouldn’t have meddled with his work without giving Fenor any heads up in the first place. Once might be overlooked, but twice couldn’t be.

“Explain why you changed the schedule. Quickly and concisely, in a way I can understand.”

Suddenly, Beriel’s face hardened. She swallowed dryly and looked at Fenor, and Fenor stared back at her. Beriel thought he would maintain his silence this time too and called to Raiden to defend him even a little.

“Your Highness.”

“I didn’t change it.”

Beriel looked at Fenor with an expression like she’d been hit in the back of the head. Raiden looked down at Beriel, who was bowing her head with a stiff expression, seemingly having expected this.

“Explain, quickly and concisely.”

“…!”

Beriel’s hands holding the documents trembled visibly. She was ashamed that Raiden had caught her doing such cowardly things. She had hoped that Raiden, if no one else, would never notice her dirty side.

“…I, I…!”

“It would be better not to make excuses. If it’s not Fenor, it’s only you.”

At the voice that was somehow chillingly cold, Beriel bit her lower lip.

“If it’s like this, I can’t trust you anymore. You know that, don’t you?”

“…!”

“Today’s incident must never be repeated.”

“…”

“Answer.”

“…Yes, Your Highness…”