CH 83

‘Therefore…’

In truth, Evan had been acting as a spy for the conservative faction under the Emperor’s orders. It was during this time that he noticed Count Terrator’s plot to assassinate her.

Evan decided to proceed with the impeachment to prevent him from carrying out the assassination. That’s why he ended up on the list of petition signatories. 

Of course, he intended to gather evidence of the assassination attempt during the impeachment process and deal with it.

However, Evan had to go to the Aplen Temple due to diplomatic issues, along with a blessing. In his absence, he asked the Emperor to provide a haven for her.

Since the Spirit Stone exploration team was scheduled to go to the northern part of Parman, the Emperor planned to send her and Perante along. 

However, while Evan was at the Aplen Temple, an unexpected incident occurred where the location of the Spirit Stone was leaked. This reignited suspicions of her being a spy.

Knowing that this incident would immediately lead to impeachment, the Emperor concluded that it would be better for Riett to go into exile.

Evan, who was at the Aplen Temple, received a letter from Riett sent by a servant and learned of this fact. In preparation for any possible assassination threats, he sent knights.

As Riett organized the sequence of events, the situation became clearer.

“The leak of the Spirit Stone’s location was an unexpected variable.”

Evan murmured, bowing his head.

“I thought you would have left to find the Spirit Stone by now, but instead… exile…”

Evan clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white.

“As soon as I received your letter, I rushed here without even a moment to think.”

Evan’s words made Riett unable to say anything, as he seemed to be in more pain and distress than the one who was exiled.

The misunderstanding was cleared, but Riett felt somewhat strange when she realized that Evan was more worried about her than she had thought. Her eyebrows twitched slightly as she looked at Evan, who was reproaching himself.

But come to think of it, this guy… He arrived at the Aplen Temple not long ago and now he’s here?

Riett glared at Evan, who sat upright in his chair.

“Did you meet the Holy Maiden?”

Evan frowned as if he didn’t like that question.

“Is that important right now?”

“Did you meet her? Answer me!”

This question was incredibly important to Riett. It was not about her own life but about Evan’s life.

“I did meet her. Although I didn’t receive her blessing.”

At this point, Riett’s head was spinning. The original story had completely fallen apart.

‘What should Evan do now?’

Because of her, he ruined his first encounter with his destined partner…

Riett slumped in her chair, feeling deflated like a deflated balloon, and remained silent for a while before suddenly raising her head.

‘No, but they did meet, didn’t they?’

“Evan, how was the Holy Maiden?”

“She was just a person.”

What a dry response he had. 

“They say she’s incredibly beautiful according to the rumors.”

“I guess you could think that way.”

Evan replied vaguely as if talking about a third person.

‘So, she’s either pretty or not!’

Frustrated, Riett sighed inwardly, and at that moment, Evan tilted his head and stared at Riett.

“There’s only one person I see with my eyes.”

Hmm…?

“What is it?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Evan raised his eyebrow and tilted his head, but Riett quickly took the bait.

“Have you ever had someone you liked?”

“Yeah, I do. It’s about time I start thinking about marriage too.”

Well, considering his age.

‘He’s at the marrying age.’

Riett’s mind was in turmoil. Was Evan talking about someone other than the heroine? Or was it someone they had known since childhood, growing up and now reaching the age to get married?

“So… Are things going well with that person?”

“It’s unrequited love.”

Riett’s hand, which was adding sugar to the tea, froze.

‘…Unrequited love?’

Reluctantly admitting it, Evan’s response indicated that when it came to choosing a partner for marriage, he had an infinitely wide range of options. Whether it was based on appearance or lineage, there would be many women who wanted to marry Evan.

But among them, there was no one suitable!

‘She must be an exceptional woman.’

Still, Riett understood. It wasn’t all about looks or conditions. Even the wife of the mister didn’t have any possessions and ran away with a commoner she loved.

Come to think of it, the mister himself, like Evan, had unrequited love for his wife.

It seemed like they had a penchant for such situations. Riett couldn’t help but feel sorry for Evan.

“To have unrequited love… It must be difficult.”

“But now, I want to stop this unrequited love.”

Saying that he was giving up on unrequited love was a scary thing. Well, unrequited love wasn’t something worth pursuing anyway. Riett herself had suffered a lot from unrequited love for Evan in the original story.

Riett sympathetically, or rather empathetically asked, 

“Are you giving up?”

Evan smiled.

“After waiting for so long, I can never give up.”

“Then?”

At that moment, Evan’s eyes turned towards Riett.

“I’m going to confess.”

In his gaze that seemed to be staring at her intensely, Riett momentarily felt as if Evan was confessing to her. But that couldn’t be true.

Feeling a mix of confusion, Riett hid her emotions and said, 

“Well, I’ll cheer you on.”

“Thank you.”

Evan smiled brightly.

‘The conversation went off track for a moment.’

By the way, Riett recalled the conversation they were having before.

She had thought that Evan had betrayed her and was devastated, but now she knew that wasn’t the case.

Furthermore, Evan and the Emperor were doing their best to protect her from behind.

So she couldn’t just stay still.

“Evan, I’m going to do everything I can to clear my name as a spy.”

“That’s what you should do.”

Evan nodded in agreement.

“I will ask for help from the Prince of Haren Empire. He owes a debt to Riett, so he won’t be able to ignore the request.”

“A debt? Are you referring to the parvanium supplies? That I owe to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“The Emperor of Haren Empire may be greedy and not very intelligent, but the Crown Prince is different. He will surely understand that it was for Riett’s sake.”

“…Well, then I suppose that’s fortunate.”

Despite Riett’s uncertain reaction, Evan remained firm.

“I will send a letter to the Prince of the Haren Empire.”

However, Riett had one concern.

“If the Crown Prince is involved with the real spy from this side, even if he can’t ignore the request, he might not cooperate.”

“That’s why I’ll ask if we can meet and have a conversation. Once we talk face-to-face, I’ll be able to determine his intentions.”

Evan was proactive.

‘Evan seems determined to make contact with the Crown Prince of the Haren Empire…’

If that were the case, Riett’s task would be to uncover the real spy hidden nearby.

“Evan, as you already know, there is a separate real spy.”

“Are you referring to the person who leaked the location of the Spirit Stone?”

“Yes. Someone leaked information to the Haren Empire and framed me.”

Evan nodded his head in agreement.

“Who do you suspect?”

“I thought it was Count Terrator, but… I’m not sure anymore.”

Given that he had tried to kill her from behind, it didn’t seem likely that he would engage in such activities by leaking information to the Haren Empire.

While hiring an assassin would be a burdensome task, if it were to be discovered later that he leaked secrets, it would become an even bigger issue, which Count Terrator must have known.

So, there must be someone else who leaked information to the Haren Empire, and Count Terrator opportunistically took advantage of the situation.

‘If it wasn’t Count Terrator who leaked the information… ‘

As Riett pondered, one person came to mind.

“Evan, do you… know anything about the Spirit Mage Perante?”

“Perante? I’ve heard my father mention him occasionally, but I don’t know much about him.”

She asked just in case, but as expected, Evan, or anyone else for that matter, would respond with the same answer—they knew very little.

Perante seemed to have no fixed location and no close acquaintances.

“Are you suspecting him?”

“The only people who knew the location of the Spirit Stone were me, the Emperor, and Perante. If it wasn’t me or the Emperor, then the probability of it being Perante is the highest.”

It was a simple approach, but in the current situation, it was the most reasonable deduction.

Moreover, upon further consideration, Perante seemed rather suspicious. She recalled his reaction when the ground split due to the mole during their last encounter at the palace.

“Duchess Marren, have you experienced such incidents before?”

When she said no, he quickly laughed it off.

“Well… I suppose it was probably just a mole passing by.”

His facial expressions swiftly changed as if he could be an actor.

But it was an absurd conjecture.

‘He has no reason to pass information to the Haren Empire.’

Why would a Truto Empire-affiliated Spirit Mage leak information to the Haren Empire?

While she was pondering, a voice was heard from outside.

“Ah, it’s exhausting.”

“Have you arrived, Lucas?”

“Oh, has Riett arrived?”

It seemed that Lucas had returned home. Looking out the window, the sky had already turned dark.

“…This voice.”

Evan’s expression became as dark as the night sky. Before Evan could even say that the person outside was Lucas, he abruptly opened the study door and walked out alone.

“…”

“…”

Facing each other, Evan and Lucas silently glared at each other without saying a word.

Lucas was the first to speak.

“Evan, what are you doing here?”

“That seems like something I should be asking.”

Chills ran down Evan’s words. Lucas raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

“Can’t imagine?”

Lucas’ eyes flickered mischievously toward Evan.

“Old acquaintance met in exile, and the budding…”

Thunk!

In an instant, Evan grabbed Lucas by the collar and pushed him against the wall. Lucas grimaced from the pain shooting through his back.

“Ah, it hurts.”

“Speak. Why are you here!”

It had been a long time since Evan raised his voice like this.

‘But more importantly, why did the atmosphere suddenly turn so tense?’

Just a moment ago, they were having a relatively friendly conversation, but with Lucas’ appearance, the atmosphere instantly became icy.

“I told you. I came here to spend time with a long-lost acquaintance.”

Why does Lucas keep saying such nonsensical things? And why does Evan seem to believe it?

Rationally speaking, he knew that she and Lucas were by no means in a close relationship that could be described as intimate.

‘He knows that Lucas betrayed me.’

However, Evan seemed to have no such thoughts at all. Just by looking at his sharp gaze, as if he could tear Lucas’ throat apart at any moment, it was evident.

For a while, the two stared at each other without saying a word.

“…”

“…”

A tense silence lingered for a moment.

Finally, Riett spoke up.

“I happened to run into Lucas here. But there are things I wanted to ask him, and it seemed like he had nowhere to stay, so I asked him to come here.”

However, Riett’s vague explanation didn’t fully convince Evan. His gaze toward Lucas remained as piercing as ever.

“You… Were you really staying here…?”

“Well, what if I was?”

In response to Lucas’ casual answer, Evan’s eyes flickered with intensity.

“Then I’ll kill you.”