Chapter 93
“Anyway, you talk back a lot.”
Ravian ruffled his red hair with one hand as he approached, then bent down to look at Nina.
“You’re not going anywhere. What’s wrong?”
“…Did you… cry, sir?”
“What?”
Even under the faint light of the mood lamps, Ravian’s face twisted into an oddly grotesque expression that Nina could clearly see.
Startled, Nina quickly shook her head.
“No, sorry. Someone was crying in my dream, and I thought it was you.”
“So you looked down on me that much?”
“I wasn’t looking down on you?!”
Really, whether it was him or someone else, they always yelled about being looked down upon.
Why were all these men like this?
‘Are adults always this sensitive?’
Feeling frustrated, Nina lightly pounded her small fists against her chest.
Ravian stared at her with slightly dazed eyes.
“I was just worried because it seemed like something happened to you!”
“I got it, sorry.”
To her surprise, he not only accepted it quietly but even apologized.
Ravian’s uncharacteristic attitude made Nina even more suspicious.
‘Something definitely happened.’
She had planned to wait for him to speak first, since he promised he would tell her everything when he returned, but by now, she couldn’t help asking.
“Sir, did something bad happen in the capital?”
Perhaps negotiations with Duke Cherni didn’t go well, or maybe something unpleasant occurred while gauging the royal atmosphere.
Nina blinked anxiously, pondering the possibilities.
“Did my parents upset you? Did someone do something rude?”
If anyone was at fault for rudeness, it was the side who kidnapped the daughter and acted nonchalantly—but Ravian didn’t point that out.
Instead, he drifted off in thought.
‘How many apples did I eat tonight?’
“Huh?”
Nina tilted her head, the scent of apples faintly drifting from her hair.
When Ravian still said nothing, Nina raised her palm and gently pressed it against his forehead.
“Sir, I’m not looking down on you, but are you hurt?”
Clearly, he had been looking down on her.
The soft touch on his face was unbearably warm, and Ravian closed his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again.
‘Why are you…’
“My brother told me to find you.”
There was a brief silence.
Nina slowly lowered her hand.
The words were sudden and lacking explanation, but they were so unexpected that, paradoxically, she felt calm.
“Your father said that…?”
“Yeah.”
Ravian hesitated for a moment, then added,
“My brother said he wants to see you and that if I find you for him, he’ll give me anything.”
Your father wants to start again.
He wants you to smile at him like before.
“But what am I supposed to do? I don’t really want to.”
Despite his teasing tone, there was a strange expression in his absinthe-colored eyes, a certain urgent aura flickering there.
‘-You are always responsible for what you have tamed.’
Nina’s affection for him might be nothing but false attachment.
But even if it’s false attachment, even if it’s a child’s misplaced affection for a proper guardian they’ve never had, the one influenced by that warmth is not the child.
Perhaps the winner of this game was decided from the start.
Meanwhile, unaware that she had already “won” the game, Nina’s eyes now glowed with blue fire.
‘What kind of trick is this?’
(From Nina’s perspective) Ravian knew nothing, so he could accept Leopold’s intentions innocently.
But!
From Nina’s view, there was clearly some dark scheme behind Leopold’s request.
‘No doubt, this time he’s planning to trap Ravian. Whoever really kidnapped me, they’ll use my disappearance as an opportunity…’
Her blue eyes flared eerily.
‘I knew this would happen, and they dared to put on that little play…!’
“Sir.”
Nina’s presence now carried the chill of mid-summer frost, and Ravian flinched instinctively.
“What is it?”
Nina took a short, deep breath.
‘Stay calm. If I get angry suddenly, Ravian will be shocked.’
Suppressing the boiling anger, she forced a smile and spoke.
“Don’t go to the capital from now on.”
“…”
Ravian just stared at her with vacant eyes. Clearly, he was baffled.
Nina tried to keep her smile steady and firmly grasped his hands with both of hers.
For now, she had to make sure he never went back to the capital.
There was no time to care about her own embarrassment.
“I’m not saying never go there, just don’t go for a while. Even if my father or mother asks to meet, don’t go. They’re not really trying to find me, so don’t be tricked by their little play! Got it?”
Her soft smile and unexpectedly honest tone froze Ravian’s body.
His absinthe-colored eyes flickered in confusion.
If he had known she would react this way, she never would have said it.
The sudden revelation of Nina’s long-hidden wounds raised countless questions in his mind—but that didn’t matter right now.
‘Such a selfish bastard.’
Cursing herself under her breath, Ravian finally spoke.
“Got it.”
“Huh…?”
Surprised by his obedient answer, Nina blinked in astonishment.
Ravian wrapped his other hand around hers and continued calmly.
“I don’t know why, but I won’t go until you say I should.”
“…Really?”
“Did you forget the promise you made with me?”
Remembering the promise to trust him no matter what, Nina shook her head.
“No. I didn’t forget.”
“Good. Now go rest.”
Ravian suddenly added this as he straightened up and lifted Nina into his arms.
Startled by the sudden lift, Nina instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
As he carried her back to the bedroom, a strange mix of confusion and relief washed over her.
Perhaps Ravian took what happened lightly, as a joke—but even so, an odd sense of comfort lingered.
“Sir, do you know where Katya went…?”
“She’s sleeping somewhere else tonight.”
The unexpected reply caught Nina off guard.
After a moment, Ravian placed her gently on one side of the bed and began tidying up the cluttered table.
Under Nina’s watchful eyes, he straightened the sheets and cleaned up the mess.
Beneath the blanket, various items were hidden—storybook, comb, hand mirror, even the prince doll Günter had recently bought her.
Ravian’s expression darkened as he picked up the prince doll.
“Why does this seem so familiar?”
“Oh, that’s the one Uncle Günter bought at the festival. Looks just like Messi, right?”
“…”
Ravian glared at the doll with a murderous expression.
Now that she looked closely, it really did resemble that guy.
Something Nina hadn’t realized until now.
“Why are you sleeping with a doll that looks just like him?”
“It’s soft and helps me sleep, and I don’t have any other dolls…”
Nina muttered a nervous excuse.
Ravian banished the prince doll to the window and turned his face toward it.
“So that’s why you couldn’t sleep.”
“But…”
“What’s this? Why do you take a mirror to bed? So you can see your future husband’s face if you look into it at midnight?”
Nina scratched her head sheepishly, wondering how he even knew that.
She hadn’t seriously believed it. She just enjoyed the nightly game Katya taught her in bed.
Ravian clicked his tongue in annoyance at her silence.
“Even small kids are already thinking about marriage, huh?”
