Chapter 67
Lionel looked at Riv and smiled.
“Not yet. It’s nice to see Riv enjoy traveling.”
Riv was actually slightly excited.
“This is my first trip, and the first time I’ve come this far outside of the Royal Capital and away from the Royal Family.”
“Didn’t Count Katana have a manor?”
Riv shook her head. She didn’t really want to talk about her past, but it wasn’t a secret that she needed to hide either.
“The estate of Count Katana was sold before I was born. The Count fell ill when I was still a child.”
Riv grew bitter as she recalled her childhood.
“Lionel, haven’t you heard the rumors? That Count Katana had an ugly, gloomy adoptive daughter who spreads misery.”
“I haven’t. And it doesn’t matter because Riv is pretty.”
“Thank you.”
Lionel’s compliments were pleasing, but Riv did not dare to be arrogant.
“I was not welcomed by Count Katana because I was neither his legitimate daughter nor a beauty. The only time my adoptive father was happy was when I entered the palace.”
“Then what about after entering the palace?”
“I hardly ever left… I don’t want to remember much about my life in the palace.”
Riv entered the palace when she was 14 and spent 7 years there.
She took a regular vacation at least once a month but never went home.
The longest vacation she had was a week, and it was when Count Katana passed away and she had to organize his estate.
She didn’t have time to rest because she dealt with tasks constantly.
As she thought back on that moment, Riv felt exhausted and fiddled with the pendant around her neck.
Lionel watched the action closely and asked,
“You said the picture in the necklace was your mother? What kind of person was she?”
“I don’t know. She died on the day I was born.”
“I see…”
Lionel nodded.
“If she were alive and saw you, she would have been happy. She would’ve been proud of her beautiful daughter.”
“Thank you.”
Lionel didn’t stop there.
“We got married because I wanted to sleep with you. I felt a desire for you. From Madame Katana, I made you into the beauty you are now, Riv Sentoren.”
Embarrassment was evident on Riv’s face.
“Why do you blush when I call you a beauty?”
“Don’t joke around.”
“It’s not a joke.”
Lionel grabbed her hand and caressed it.
Suddenly, as if he was bored, he yawned and said,
“Riv, lend me your shoulder.”
“What?”
Lionel sat down next to Riv.
“I’m not going to attack you in the carriage.”
Riv didn’t mind being attacked, but she held her tongue.
“Just sit still.”
Lionel pretended to be asleep. She lent him her shoulder and rested her head on his. Sleep instantaneously devoured her.
– Riv, Riv Katana!!
‘?’
-You are a child who brings misery!
Riv opened her eyes. Someone was reaching out to her.
Suddenly, her dream changed again.
In front of her was Lionel.
Lionel’s platinum hair was long. His scar looked more prominent.
He seemed angry.
A distant plain was visible.
Beautiful golden wheat danced in the wind. It collapsed under the feet of the soldiers.
Lionel was wearing a military uniform. He glared at the enemy’s barracks. Thousands of soldiers were targeting Lionel and his men.
– Advance!
The moment the attack advanced, the ominous scene ended.
Riv’s body bounced in the rocking carriage.
‘Ugh!’
She woke up after bumping the back of her head in the carriage.
‘Was that just a dream? Or will it come true?’
Lionel woke up at the same time and stroked the back of Riv’s head.
“The road is rough. Don’t you get motion sickness?”
“I-I’m fine.”
Riv knew that she had seen the future again. She had glimpsed the future of Lionel if he stayed by her side.
She saw it not once, but twice.
Obviously, this was Lionel’s near future.
‘Why was he there?’
Worried about Riv’s dazed state, Lionel hugged her.
“We still have a long way to go, Riv. Get some sleep.”
It was unlikely that she would be able to sleep, so Riv just stared at the left side of his face.
In her dream, Lionel’s red scar was particularly prominent.
This gentle-looking man had turned into a beast on that plain.
Riv remembered the Ezul Plains that Hailey had told her about.
“Ezul, the Ezul Plains.”
“Ezul? Why there?”
Lionel’s forehead contorted at once.
“Do you know anything about the Ezul Plains?”
Lionel frowned and pointed to his scar.
Riv would sometimes forget that he had one, but there was a clear, crack-like scar on Lionel’s left cheek.
“I can’t forget it. Five years ago, that was where I got this scar.”
“Ah.”
“Have you ever heard of my past?”
Riv shook her head.
Lionel sighed.
“While my father was alive, I was a member of the Royal Guard and was called to the Ezul Plains when a dispute broke out.”
“Is that where war usually takes place?”
Riv had heard about it from her escort Hailey, but she wanted to hear it from Lionel.
He explained in more detail.
“The four countries’ borders are along the Ezul Plains. Our countries share the Ezul Plains, but it was originally owned by the Minter Kingdom in the North a few decades ago. The Minter Kingdom hated us the most as we occupied the largest territory.”
Lionel’s hand traced the red scar on his face.
“My men were from Minter. They set a trap and sold me to Minter.”
“Th-That’s…And then?”
“I was held for three days. This face was a trophy to them.”
“Ah.”
“They made me like this to make sure I hated my face.”
“Ah.”
Riv traced his scar that was filled with complex emotions.
She wished she could heal this wound herself.
It seemed that her ability would not be able to completely make the old scar disappear.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. And I’ve gotten used to this face.”
“Ah.”
Ironically, if it weren’t for Lionel’s scars, they wouldn’t have gotten together.
Riv felt regret due to his scar and recalled her dream earlier.
Meanwhile, the carriage seemed to be getting closer to their destination, Earl Murden’s villa.
The children of the Earl and his wife could be heard shouting and cheering.
A peaceful lakeside mansion surrounded by forest awaited them.
“Riv, if you’re upset, you’ll get better if you spend some time here.”
“Okay.”
She dreamt of a future where he might get hurt.
That future could be soon.
Riv struggled to open her lips, but she couldn’t bear to confess.
They got off the carriage.
The lakeside mansion looked huge for a villa.
There was faint fog in all directions.
“Let’s try fishing or boating later.”
“Yes.”
The children of Earl Murden kept cheering from somewhere.
Riv looked at the peaceful scenery and forgot her troubles.
“Right now, I want to enjoy this moment with you.”
Riv struggled to erase her dream knowledge from her mind. There was no way she could stop the future right away.
All Riv could do was to not think about it.
***
After the Royal Ball came to an end, Princess Marianne and her suitors made headlines.
Nothing much had happened and the sweltering July came.
There were big and small problems within the Royal Family, but they didn’t matter much, except for Marianne’s groom still not being decided.
Meanwhile, the nobles of society hurried to prepare to leave for their estates or villas for the summer.
A problem occurred in the Ezul Plains.
The soldiers who noticed ominous movement at the border sent a messenger to the Royal Capital.
The messenger rode day and night and met the King three days later.
“What do you mean?”
The King did not understand even the messenger’s words due to his excessive hangover.
The messenger cried out quickly, not paying attention to how pathetic the king was.
“Your Majesty! The Ezul Plains… the enemy has come to the northern border!”
“Huh?”
The King stiffened just as he opened his mouth to yawn.
Then he moved slowly.
“……..So, what do you expect me to do?”
“What?”
The Ezul Plains was a fertile granary area, but it costs a lot of money to maintain due to the constant invaders.
The king tried to think.
He must have cut the budget there to buy jewelry and dresses for his new mistresses. It seemed that way.
The problem was that the King was not certain.
The messenger urged the king.
“Your Majesty! Please provide us with military support!”
The king didn’t want to think.
“I should hold a meeting. Call the Military Commander.”
The King summoned the princes, heads of the military, and the Royal Guards, and convened an emergency meeting.