Chapter 153

The intense difference in opinion could be felt in the expressions of Theon and Ariel, who were sitting opposite each other at the table and exchanging gazes.

Contrary to Ariel, who seemed to be very excited, Theon, who had maintained a firm expression throughout the entire time, slowly raised the corners of his mouth and spoke.

“I guess I was the princess’ lover?”

“We promised to get married, so if you are not a lover, what kind of relationship is it?”

“I don’t know why you are so obsessed with marrying me.”

“Because I want to be in the top position. I wonder if there will be anything more joyous than giving birth to a child who resembles Your Highness and me, and that child becoming the King of the Stellen Kingdom.”

“You seem to be gentle, but you’re very ambitious.”

When Theon, who was smiling lightly, changed his posture and spoke, Ariel responded with a beautiful smile instead of an answer.

Knock, knock, knock.

As time passed, Ayla, who had prepared the tea and dessert, entered the office with a firm expression.

Pretending to be grateful, Ariel patted Ayla’s shoulder a couple of times as she set the teacup down in front of her, and then continued.

“It seems that you secretly left the palace a while ago, where did you go without saying anything? I was very worried.”

Ayla’s eyebrows frowned a little at Ariel’s intentional, charming voice, as if she were conscious of Ayla.

“It is not something the Princess needs to be concerned about.”

“I can’t pretend not to know when it concerns the person who will become my husband.”

Theon narrowed his eyes and looked at Ariel, who talked back to Ayla.

Despite Theon’s sharp gaze, Ariel only picked up the teacup with dignity and sipped the tea, remaining confident.

Click.

Ayla, who was nervously watching the two of them with a stiff expression on her face, saw the desperate Mason coming in.

“The secretary, Mason Fren, greets Your Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Ariel. It is an urgent matter, so I came in without knocking. Huff, huff…”

Theon made an eye gesture at Mason, who was breathing heavily with drops of sweat on his forehead, as if telling him to speak at once.

“Baron Noir… Was found dead in his home. It seems like he made an extreme choice.”

The inside of the office was filled with silence at Mason’s words, and a strange smile appeared on Ariel’s lips as she sipped the tea.

***

Theon and Ayla, who were sitting opposite each other, had an unusual expression on their faces.

After hearing the news of Devin’s passing, Ayla, who had kept a firm expression on her face, suddenly became teary-eyed.

She had mixed feelings.

She didn’t know the details, but she couldn’t shake off the thought that his death had something to do with Zenia.

That’s why she offered to accompany him.

To relieve a bit of her sense of guilt. To get to the bottom of the case.

Rattle, rattle.

The carriage, which had been running loudly, suddenly stopped in front of an old and shabby mansion.

The mansion in front of them looked like it had not been maintained at all, to the point that calling it a mansion was embarrassing.

There was ivy and moss tangled all over the wall, and she wondered when it had been cleaned up, as the weeds that climbed up to their shins were all tangled together. It exuded a deeply gloomy atmosphere.

Suddenly, the two people were standing at the entrance of Baron Noir’s mansion.

Mason, who had already come on horseback, approached them slowly with a grieving expression on his face.

Theon’s voice, which was particularly low, echoed through the air.

“What about the body?”

“Since there were no relatives to collect it, I moved it somewhere else for now. Investigators have already searched inside… They said that there were no suspicions of murder.”

“…”

“Do you really have to… Look at the scene?”

Mason glanced at Ayla, who had turned pale, and opened his mouth carefully.

He doesn’t know why he came with Ayla, who is only a low-rank maid…

He could feel that there was something he didn’t know going on between the two of them.

Contrary to how he looked, Mason was quick-witted, so he stopped talking at Theon’s silence.

“Your Highness, please go inside.”

It was an unexpected person who broke the silence between the three.

Ayla, who was biting her lips with her hands together as if trying to calm their trembling, spoke towards Theon.

Theon, who looked at her without saying a word, nodded as if he had made up his mind and stepped forward.

Although it was Ayla who suggested going in first, she forced herself to take a step.

Click.

Mason looked sadly at Ayla, who was trying to act unwavering, and slowly opened the door of the mansion.

The quiet interior was not much different from the unkept exterior.

It seems that it has been a long time since people stopped coming, so she couldn’t feel a single bit of warmth, let alone signs of a presence.