CH 45.1

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Isabella replied effortlessly.

“Don’t worry. I’m on your side. Or, more precisely, I’m on Ria’s side.” Prince Victor said with a smile.

She was well aware of that.

“What in the world are you up to?”

“I’m just curious about you. I’ve met Ria before so I knew her face. But I wonder how you knew her as well.”

She already expected this question.

Isabella stared at Prince Victor’s face as he smiled at her.

His gaze didn’t waver even once.

“I heard a story about Ria when I first came to Arpeon with Duke Kyar.  I just put it at the back of my mind because it didn’t concern me. But the moment I saw her lying on the ground in front of the gates of Rubella Castle, I already speculated it was her due to the rare color of her eyes. No. I wasn’t sure. Still, I thought it was better for her to be careful when we visited Arpeon, so I asked her to cover her face and eyes.”

“You weren’t sure?” Prince Victor asked with one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Yes, but you convinced me just now, Your Highness. You told me that you recognize Ria’s face.” Isabella grinned, and Prince Victor’s smile went stiff.

Prince Victor bent down towards Isabella’s ear and whispered. “You’re not going to hand Ria over to the Lilith Kingdom?”

“If I had intended to do so, I wouldn’t have asked Ria to be careful in the first place. As you said, we are on the same side, Your Highness. You don’t need to worry.” She replied.

Prince Victor burst into laughter, and Isabella lifted her hands to cover her ears from the loud sound.

“You are an interesting woman, and I understand why Allen is interested in you. I’m also glad to hear that you had Allen’s attention instead of Ria’s.”

Prince Victor paused to reach for her hands as if he intended to shake them.

Isabella glanced down at their joined hands in wonder.

“I mean… please take care of Ria. You don’t know how relieved I was to see you right next to her.”

“You don’t have to ask me to take care of her because I’m already doing it.”

“Is it because you don’t like me?”

Prince Victor seemed quick-witted.

Isabella’s response was to lift her cup and sip some tea.

“Well, I’ve got more people to look at. Why are the people in the Northern Kingdom so cold? Where did Ria go, anyway?”

“She went to see a puppet show. It would  take a while for them to return so–”

Prince Victor suddenly straightened his spine, and she flashed him a bewildered look.

What’s the matter with him?

“A puppet show in front of the fountain?” Prince Victor asked again to confirm something, and Isabella nodded in astonishment.

Then, Prince Victor ran out of the teahouse without an explanation.

Why was he surprised to hear that Ria went to see a puppet show?

Did he happen to know something about it?

Isabella quickly got up from her seat.

After paying the staff for the tea, Isabella rushed towards the fountain.

She could see Ria’s limp body in Prince Victor’s arms.

Had she fainted?

Mark stood next to them in confusion.

Isabella approached them and asked, “What is wrong with her?”

“Ria suddenly collapsed while watching the puppet show. I was about to carry her on my back when I  met Prince Victor.”

“Where is the carriage?” Prince Victor asked urgently.

Isabella and Marc pointed to the street where their carriage stood simultaneously.

Prince Victor carried Ria in his arms and hurriedly ran towards the carriage.

Isabella and Marc followed after them.

**

Isabella flashed Ria an anxious glance.

She hadn’t woken up yet after returning to the villa.

Perhaps she was having a nightmare from all that sweat soaking her body.

Isabella wiped the sweat off Ria’s forehead with a wet towel.

“The fate of the wicked princess who tried to poison the prince’s brother… that’s the main content of the puppet show.” Prince Victor said from behind her, and Isabella’s fist clenched the towel hard.

It must have been a puppet show based on Seria’s life story.

Did all of her memories come back after seeing that puppet show?

Isabella heard a knock on the door.

Mark entered the bedroom with a middle-aged man.

“The doctor has arrived.”

Isabella was nervous about entrusting Seria’s examination to the doctors in this region, but she decided to have faith in them and leave the introduction to Prince Victor.

Perhaps, Prince Victor cared more about Ria than she did.